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THE    TINKLER-GYPSIES. 


"LS^ 


iflnl!!  ToTOif^-lSv^sag 


MW- 


^''^  1907. 

Dumfries :  |  Edinhttrgh  ^  Glasgow  : 

].    Maxwell   &   Son.       I       John    Menzies   &  Co.,    Ltd. 

London:   SiMPKiN,  Marshall,    Hamilton,    Kent  &  Co.,  Ltd. 


-J  ■■♦0-. . 


TO   MY   MOTHER. 


■c:. 


41928 


First  Iinpressioti,   December,   igo6. 
Second  Intpression,   December,  igoj. 


"  ....  I  tell  yoti  -what,  brother,  frequently  as  I 
have  sat  under  the  hedge  in  spring  or  siintiner  time, 
and  have  heard  the  cuckoo,  I  have  thought  that  zve  chals 
and  cuckoos  are  alike  in  many  respects,  hit  especially 
in  character.  Everybody  speaks  ill  of  its  both,  and 
everybody  is  glad  to  see  both  of  us  again." 

Jasper  Petulengro  in  George  Borrow's 
"  The  Romany  Bye." 


"  We  a'x  only  beginning  to  recognise,  the  vast  value 
of  all  folklore  or  legends  Juit  as  they  are  perishing  ivith 
great  rapidity — '■  et  on  n' en  fait  pas  des  noiivelles'' — no 
new  ones  are  created  .   .   .   ." 


C.  G.  Lelaml, 
1).  320  "  Gypsy  Lore  Journal,"  vol.  i.  (1st  series). 


"  What  is  wanted  in   the  present    state   of  folklore, 

I  here  repeat,  is  '  collection '  from  original  sources   and 

materials,    that    is,  from   people   and  not    merely  fom 

books.      The  ciitics  -we  have— like  the  poor— akvays  -with 

us,   and  a   century   hence  ive  shall  doubtless    have  far 

better    ones    than    those    in    -whom    -we    now    rejoice   or 

sorrow." 

C.  G.  Leland. 
]).  369  "  Gypsy  Lore  Jonrnal,"  vol.  ii.  iisl  series). 


^  %ip6y  Chilli's  Christina?. 


T/ie  child  arose  and  danced  through  Jrozen  dells, 
Draivn  by  the  Christmas  chimes,  and  soon  she  sate 
Where,  ^neath  the  snow  around  the  churchyard  gate. 
The  plotighmen  slept  in  bra>nble-banded  cells : 
The  gorgios  passed,  half-fearing  Gypsy  spells, 
While  Rhona,  gazing,  seevi'd  to  meditate  ; 
Then  laugh' d  for  joy,  then  wept  disconsolate  : 
"  De  poor  dead  gorgios  cannot  hear  de  bells.'" 

JVithin  the  church  the  clouds  of  gorgio-breath 
Arose,  a  steam  of  lazy  praise  arui  prayer 
7^0  Him  who  weaves  the  loving    Christmas-stair 
O'er  sorrow  and  sin  and  wintry  deeps  of  Death  ; 
But  where  stood  He  ?     Beside  our  Rhona  there. 
Remembering  childish  tears  in  Nazareth. 


Kroni  'Tile  CoiiiiilK  of  Love"  iKhona  linswells  storji, 
eighth  cditiiin. 


Mr  Theodore  Watts-Dunton,  author  of  Ay/win^ 
The  Co/ning  of  Love,  &c.,  in  kindly  granting  permission 
to  the  author  of  this  book  to  use  the  foregoing  beautiful 
sonnet,  writes  him  as  follows  :  — 

The  Pines,  Putney  Hill, 

2^ih  N'ovei/iber,  igo6. 
Dear  Mr  M'Cormick, 

Of  course  I  shall  be  delighted  to  have  my 
sonnet,  "  A  Gypsy  Child's  Christmas,'"  reprinted  in  your 
book.  It  attracted  more  attention  and  gave  more  pleasure 
to  my  readers  than  any  other  part  of  The  Coming  of 
Love.  I  have  had  scores  of  letters  from  unknown  friends 
upon  The  Coming  of  Love,  and  most  of  them  have 
specially  dwelt  upon  this  sonnet.  I  can  say  this  without 
laying  myself  open  to  the  charge  of  egotism,  because  the 
subject  of  the  sonnet  was  suggested  by  a  beautiful  anec- 
dote of  the  child  Lavinia  Lee  given  in  Frank  Groome's 
charming  volume  In  Gypsy  Tents. 

I  am,  and  always  have  been,  a  great  lover  of  children, 
and  I  know  them  well  in  all  their  varieties,  and  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  for  whimsical  fascination  the  Romany 
children  surpass  all  others.  They  combine  the  bright- 
eyed  intelligence  of  Gorgio  children  with  the  unspeak- 
able, unconscious  fascination  of  kittens. 

As  to  your  graphic  and  admirable  sketches,  when  I 
read  them  in  the  proof  I  felt  grateful  to  you  for  this 
labour  of  love  of  yours.  Your  book  will  be  greatly 
prized,  not  only  by  all  Romany  Ryes,  but  by  all  who  take 
interest  in  Gypsydom. 

Two  cf  the  friends  I  have  lost,  George  Borrow  and 
Frank  Groome,  would  have  prized  it  more  than  any 
volume  that  has  issued  from  the  Press  for  a  long  time 
past,  and  whatever  may  be  its  acceptance  at  the  present 
moment  its  documentary  value  will  increase  every  year  as 
time  goes  on,  and  as  the  pictures  of  the  Romanies  become 
more  and  more  shadowy  dreams  of  the  past. 

Believe  me  to  be. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Theodore  Watts-Dunton. 


INTRODUCTION, 


■"Does  do^  prey  on  dog?"  asked  the  Spanish  Gypsy 
soldier  in  I3orrow's  Zincali.  I  fancied  not  ;  yet  here  is 
Mr  M'Cormick,  a  brother  Romano  Rai,  with  his  pistol 
pointed  at  my  head,  demanding  a  benediction  for  his 
Tinkler  -  Gypsies,  or  else — —  Pretty  work  for  the 
Provost  !     But  I  must  e'en  stand  and  deliver. 

Gypsies   are    Gypsies   all    the    world    over  —  cousins 
separated  only  by  their   different   beats  and  a  few  family 
peculiarities.      Such  at   any   rate   was  the  opinion  of  old 
Isaac  Heme,  in  whose  company  I  visited  my  first  foreign 
Gypsies,  a   band    of  Greek  and  Rumelian  Romane,   who 
invaded  this  island  some  twenty  years  ago.      Driven  from 
their  squatting-place  in  a  railway  station,  tlie  picturesque 
vavcr-teinengyos,    looking  for   all   the  world  like  Callot's 
Bohemians,  were  encamped  in  a  large  field  near  Aintree 
race-course.      "  Dere,  my  boy  !"  said    Isaac,  gazing  at 
them    much   as  Darwin   must  have  gazed  at  the  naked 
Patagonians  when  the   reflection  occurred  to   him  that 
"such   were  our  ancestors" — "Dere,    my   boy,  centres 
behind  de  time  of  day,  but  still  de  right  breedipcn.      Dat 
must  be  de  werry  way  we  looked  like  when  we  first  come 
to  Angiierra,  years  and  years  and  double  years  ago.      But 
we've  picked   up   a  few  bits  of  tings  since  den."     Yet 
Isaac's   attitude  was   not    wholly   critical.       He  cast  an 
approving  glance  upon  a  merry   Gypsy  lass  with  mocking 
eye  and  flashing  teeth,  whose  perfect  shape  was  little  con- 
cealed   by    the  gad  and  choxa    which    formed    her    sole 
apparel,  and  who  had  just  retorted  to  some  pleasantry  of 
the  younger  Boswells  with  thecjuaint  saying — ".)//;//  iiai 
lashi :  iniiij  kand^d  ?''^ — words  surprising   to   ears  whicii 
have  lost  familiarity  with  the  directness  of  primitive  folk- 
speech.      "Not  a  bad-looking  (7^(77,  my  dear />«/,"  quoth 
Isaac  ;  "one  of  de  right  sort — a  bit  wildish  just  now  may- 
be ;  but  we  could  do  werry  well  with  her,  my  boy,  if  we 
only  took  and  trained  her  for  a  bit  and  poger''d\\zx  adn' \.o 
mendt's  drouiyas  "  (broke  her  in  to  our  ways). 

Yes,  Gypsies  are  Gypsies,  but  are  Tinkler-Gypsies 
Roman6  ?  That  is  the  cjuestion.  And  if  so,  where 
about  in   the  hierarchy  of  the   Romani  races  should  we 


Introducticni.  xi. 

place  them  ?  The  classification  of  Miklosich  is  based  on 
linguistics  alone,  and  ignores  all  the  other  features  which 
go  to  the  making  of  a  Gypsy.  But  Gypsies  are  none  the 
less  Gypsies  because  they  have  lost  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  their  own  tongue.  Wherever  may  be  the  rank  of  the 
Tinklers— and  1  propose  to  return  to  this  point  in  a 
moment  if  the  Provost  will  kindly  lower  his  blunderbuss — 
there  is  happily  no  doubt  whatever  of  the  place  they 
occupy  in  the  national  afi'cctions  of  the  Scottish  people. 
Their  history  is  hound  up  with  that  of  .Scotland  in  a  way 
which  we  never  find  in  southern  Britain — Johnny  Faa 
and  the  Countess  of  Cassillis  ;  Macpherson,  the  hero  of 
Burns'  glorious  lyric  ;  Maclellan  of  Bombie,  who  slew  a 
Gypsy  (or  Saracen)  chief  and  took  the  tawny  head  of  his 
victim  as  his  crest,  are  but  a  few  cases  in  point.  Nor  is 
it  uncommon  to  find  Scottish  personages  like  Jeannie 
Welsh,  or  the  late  Principal  Story,  who  were  proud 
rather  than  ashamed  of  the  Gypsy  strain  in  their  ancestry. 
Nor,  again,  can  any  British  student  of  Gypsy  lore  afford 
to  overlook  the  Scottish  variety.  He  may  turn  for  his 
knowledge  of  the  Romani  tongue  in  its  purity  to  the 
Welsh  descendants  of  Abram  Wood,  or  seek  for  ancient 
customs  and  traditions  in  the  tents  of  the  English 
Stanleys,  Lees,  and  Hemes,  but  his  complete  realisation 
of  the  race  will  fall  short  unless  he  grasp  something  also 
of  the  spirit  of  romance  and  adventure,  the  "  life  of  start 
and  strife,"  best  exemplified  by  the  Scottish  Gypsies. 

But  still  this  brings  us  back  to  the  question— Who  and 
what  are  these  Tinkler-Gypsies  to  whom  the  Provost  has 
given  his  hand  and  heart  ?  We  are  entitled  to  ask  them, 
as  Borrow  asked  the  Gypsy  Queen  of  Yetholm  :  ^^  Shan 
tu  a  Diiimpli-iniishi,  or  a  tatchi  Roinaiiy  V  (Are  you  of 
mumping  breed,  or  true  Gypsy  ?)  If  we  go  back  jast 
four  centuries,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
"  Egyptianis,"  who  were  paid  seven  pounds  to  "be  the 
Kingis  command,"  "  the  Egyptians  that  danced  before 
the  King  in  Holyrood  House  in  the  year  1530,"  and 
the  members  of  the  band  who  ten  years  later  gave 
mocking  Romani  noinnies  de  guerre  to  the  officers  of  the 
law,  were  what  Borrow  would  call  "real  Gypsies  of  the 
.old  order."  With  whom  did  these  early  Gypsy  inhabi- 
tants of  Scotland  intermarry,  either  with  the  assistance  of 
the  Church  or  by  the  simpler  ceremony  of  leaping  over  a 
broomstick  ?  and  to  what  extent  can  the  Tinkler-Gypsies 
of  to-day  be  regarded  as  a  Romani  stock  ?  Until  anthro- 
pologists can  agree  as  to  the  right  method  and  value  of 
their   anthropometric   measurements  we    must    fall   back 


-xii.  Introduction. 

upon  the  only  criterion  possible,  tiiat  of  llie  language. 
And  here  fortunately  we  have  valuable  material  in  the 
lists  of  Tinkler  words  collected  by  Scott's  friend,  Walter 
Simson,  author  of  A  History  of  the  Gypsies^  and  by  his 
worthy  successor,  Mr  M'Cormick,  whose  vocabulary  is 
not  the  least  important  part  of  this  fresh  and  delightful 
book. 

Already  in  Simson's  day  we  find  that  the  Scottish 
dialect  of  Romani  had  lost  all  its  air  of  being  a  modern 
Indian  dialect  like  Hindustani  or  Sindhi,  and  had  taken 
its  colour  from  the  soil.  Altogether  about  half  of 
Simson's  words  are  debased  Gypsy  :  the  remainder  is 
derived  from  some  different  source,  and  it  is  from  the 
study  of  these  words  we  must  seek  to  identify  the  class  of 
people  with  whom  the  Scottish  Tinklers  interbred.  The 
historical  student  of  secret  or  cant  languages  will  have  no 
difficulty  in  recognising  at  once  the  predominant  factor 
in  the  non-Gypsy  element.  It  is  none  oth.er  than  the 
ancient  cant  of  tlie  Elizabethan  rogue  or  vagabond,  not 
changed  materially  since  it  was  first  published  to  the 
world  by  Thomas  Ilarman  in  his  Caveat  for  Cotnvton 
Cursetors,  and  familiar  to  us  from  the  conversations  and 
songs  introduced  into  the  plays  of  Fletcher,  Greene, 
Dekker,  and  other  early  dramatists.  This  cant  is  largely 
a  descriptive  one,  full  of  such  simple  coinages  a%  gliniiner 
for  "fire,"  lightiiians  for  "day,"  and  darkmans  for 
"night,"  with  here  and  there  a  Latin  importation  like 
graiiiiaiii,  "corn,"  showing  that  even  before  the  days  of 
Glanvil's  "  Scholar  Gypsy "  the  vagrants'  bands  must 
now  and  then  have  been  recruited  by  a  broken  scholar. 
Among  the  words  recorded  by  Harman  three  hundred 
years  ago  which  still,  though  occasionally  with  some 
slight  change  of  meaning  or  pronunciation,  form  part  of 
the  Tinkler  tongue  are  he)ie  and  /lotship,  "  good  ;"  bord, 
"a  shilling"  (Simson,  p.  305,  "a  penny");  chete,  "a 
thing  ;"  deli,  "  a  young  wench  "  (Simson,  pp.  296,  394  ; 
dtll,  "  a  servant  maid  ")  ;  fambies,  "  hands  ;"  grannam, 
"corn  ;"  ruffian,  "the  devil"  (Simson,  p.  305,  ruffle)  ; 
strovuiiell,  "straw;"  while  Mr  M'Cormick  supplies 
additions  to  those  noted  by  Simson  in  his  -wiin,  witig, 
"  penny,"  and  luapsi,  "  merelrix  " — a  word  formed  from 
Ilarman's  verb  wap,  perhaps  preserved  in  the  name  of 
the  old  sailors'  quarter  in  London,  "  Wapping." 

The  language  test  proves  that  the  early  Scottish 
Tinklers  must  be  a  blend  of  Koniani  and  "gabcrlunzie  " 
man.     Small    wonder,    then,    if  the  descenclants  of  this 


Introdiiclion.  xiii. 

stock  should  have  won  a  name  for  themselves  for  reckless 
daring  and  predatory  ferocity.  What  this  life  and  its 
usual  ending  were  in  bygone  days  we  may  gather  from 
the  legal  documents  and  other  historical  evidence  collected 
in  Mr  MacRitchie's  scholarly  work,  77ie  Scoliish  Gypsies 
tinder  the  Steivarts,  or,  even  more  vividly,  in  Ilarman's 
account  of  his  conversation  with  a  travelling  "  doxy" — 
"a  pleasant  wench,  but  not  so  pleasant  as  witty,  and  not 
so  witty  as  void  of  all  grace  and  goodness  " — or  vagrant 
woman,  one  of  those  nomads  whom,  the  Kentish  Esquire 
himself  tells  us,  he  had  bribed  with  good  meat  and  drink 
that  he  might  the  better  "grope  her  mind." 

"Then,  first  tell  me,"  quoth  I,  "how  many  Upright 
Men  and  Rogues  dost  thou  know  or  hast  thou  known 
and  been  conversant  with,  and  what  their  names  be  ?"' 
She  paused  awhile,  and  said — "  Why  do  you  ask  me,  or 
wherefore  ?"  "  For  nothing  else,"'  as  I  si  id,  "  but  that  I 
would  know  them  uhen  they  came  to  my  gate."  "  Xow, 
by  my  troth,"  quoth  she,  "  then  are  ye  never  the  nearer, 
for  all  my  acquaintance,  for  the  most  part,  are  dead.'' 
"  Dead  I"  quoth  I;  "how  died  they? — for  want  of 
cherishing,  or  of  painful  diseases?"  Then  she  sighed, 
and  said  they  were  hanged.  "  What,  all  ?"  quoth  I, 
"  and  so  many  walk  abroad,  as  I  daily  see  ?"  "  By  my 
troth,"  quoth  she,  "  I  know  not  past  six  or  seven  by 
their  names,"  and  named  the  same  to  me.  "  When  were 
they  hanged?"  quoth  I.  "Some  seven  years  agone, 
some  three  years,  and  some  within  this  fortnight,"  and 
declared  the  place  where  they  were  executed,  which  I 
knew  well  to  be  true  by  the  report  of  others.  "Why," 
quoth  I,  "  did  not  this  sorrowful  and  fearful  sight  much 
grieve  thee,  and  for  thy  time,  long  and  evil  spent  ?"  "I 
was  sorry,"  quotli  she,  "  by  the  mass,  for  some  of  them 
were  good  loving  men  ;  for  I  lacked  not  when  they  had 
it,  and  they  wanted  not  when  I  had  it,  and  divers  of  them 
I  never  did  lorsake,  until  the  gallows  departed  us."  "  O 
merciful  God  I"  quoth  I,  and  began  to  bless  me.  "Why 
bless  ye?"  quoth  she.  "Alas!  good  gentleman,  every 
one  must  have  a  living." 

I  turn  next  to  another  question  upon  which  the  language 
test  is  able  to  throw  light.  Besides  the  Gypsies — the 
aristocrats  of  the  road — and  the  baser  confraternity  of 
vagabonds  there  exists,  here  and  across  the  Atlantic,  an 
ancient  and  widespread  caste  which  has  hitherto  received 
scant  attention  — the  Irish  Tinkers.  Omniscient  Shake- 
speare indeed  makes  "Prince   ffal"  boast  of  being  able 


xiv.  Introduction. 

to  "  drink  with  any  Tinker  in  his  own  language  ;"  but  it 
was  not  until  our  own  day  that  "  Hans  Breitmann  "  dis- 
covered that  the  caste  of  Cairds  do  actually  possess  a  lang- 
uage of  their  own  which  later  research  has  shown  to  be  a 
perversion  of  old  Irish,  oritjinating  as  far  back  as  the  time  of 
King  Alfred  the  Great.  In  Ireland  this  secret  language, 
commonly  known  as  Shelta,  is  spoken  by  four  classes — 
the  Tinkers,  Beggars,  Pipers,  and  Sieve-makers  ;  in 
England  by  almost  every  knife-grinder.  Examples  of 
this  secret  speech  have  been  collected  in  localities  so  far 
apart  as  the  islands  of  Tiree  and  Coll  in  the  north  of 
Scotland  and  Philadelphia  in  the  United  States.  In  ihe 
four  provinces  of  Ireland  the  Irish  Tinkers  occupy  the 
place  of  our  own  Gypsies  ;  in  Wales  they  are  the  people 
described  by  Borrow  under  the  name  of  Gwyddelod, 
"  the  men  buying  and  selling  horses,  and  someiimes 
tinkering,  whilst  the  women  told  fortunes  .... 
'  What  kind  of  people  are  these  Gwyddelod  ?  "  '  Savage, 
brutish  people,  sir  ;  in  general  without  shoes  and 
stockings,  with  coarse  features  and  heads  of  hair  like 
mops.'"  Borrow's  guide,  John  Jones,  describes  "a 
terrible  fright  "  which  they  caused  him  returning  from 
the  Berwyn.  "  It  was  night  as  I  returned,  and  when 
I  was  about  half-way  down  the  hill,  at  a  place  uhich 
is  called  AUt  Paddy,  becau.se  the  Gwyddelod  are  in  the 
habit  of  taking  up  their  quarters  there,  I  came  upon  a 
gang  of  them,  who  had  come  there  and  camped  and 
lighted  their  fire,  whilst  I  was  on  the  other  side  of  the 
hill.  There  were  nearly  twenty  of  them,  men  and  women, 
and  amongst  the  r^st  was  a  man  standing  naked  in  a  tub 
of  water  with  two  women  stroking  him  down  with  clouts. 
He  was  a  large,  fierce-looking  fellow,  and  his  body,  on 
which  the  flame  of  the  fire  glittered,  was  nearly  covered 
with  red  hair.  I  never  saw  such  a  sight.  .As  I  passed 
they  glared  at  me  and  talked  violently  in  their  Paddy 
Gwyddch,  but  did  not  offer  to  molest  me.  I  hastened 
down  the  hill,  and  right  glad  I  was  when  I  found  my.self 
safe  and  sound  at  my  house  in  Llangollen." 

Hear  also  Captain  Bosvile  on  the  relations  between  the 
Irish  Tinkers  and  the  Gypsies  :  "  I  wonder  you  didn't 
try-  to  serve  some  of  the  Irish  out."  said  Borrow,  the 
peace-maker.  "  I  served  one  out,  brother  ;  and  iny  wife 
and  childer  helped  to  wipe  off  a  little  of  the  .score.  We 
had  stopped  on  a  nice  green,  near  a  village  over  the  hills 
in  Glamorganshire,  when  up  comes  a  Hindify  [Iri-^h] 
family,  and  bids  us  take  ourselves  off.  Now,  it  so 
happened  that  '.here   was  but  one  man  and  a  woman  and 


hitroduction.  xv, 

some  childer,  so  I  laughed,  and  told  ihem  to  drive  us  off. 
Well,  brother,  without  many  words  there  was  a  regular 
scrimmage.  The  Hindity  w«j-//"cameat  me,  the  Hindity 
nnishi  at  my  jitwa,  and  the  Hindity  chaves  at  my  chavi. 
It  didn't  last  long,  iirother.  In  less  than  three  minutes  I 
had  hit  the  Hindity  mush,  who  was  a  plaguey  big  fellow, 
but  couldn't  fight,  just  under  the  point  of  the  chin,  and 
sent  him  to  the  ground  with  all  his  senses  gone.  JNIy 
juwa  had  almost  scratched  an  eye  out  of  the  Hindity 
muski,  and  my  ckai  had  sent  the  Hindity  childer  scamp- 
ering over  the  green.  'Who  has  got  to  quit  now  .' ' 
said  I  to  the  Hindity  nntsh  after  he  had  got  on  his  legs, 
looking  like  a  man  who  has  been  cut  down  after  hanging 
Just  a  minute  and  a  half.  '  Who  has  got  notice  to  quit 
now,  I  wonder  ? '  Well,  brother,  he  didn't  say  anything, 
nor  did  any  of  them,  but  after  a  little  time  they  all  took 
themselves  ofl",  with  a  cart  they  had,  to  the  south.  Just 
as  they  got  to  the  edge  of  the  green,  however,  they  turned 
round  and  gave  a  yell  which  made  all  our  blood  cold.  I 
knew  what  it  meant,  and  said,  '  This  is  no  place  for  us.' 
So  we  got  everything  together  and  came  away,  and, 
though  the  horses  were  tired,  never  stopped  till  we  had 
got  ten  miles  from  the  place  :  and  well  it  was  we  acted 
as  we  did,  for,  had  we  stayed,  I  have  no  doubt  that  a 
whole  Hindity  clan  would  have  been  down  upon  us 
before  morning  and  cut  our  throats. " 

It  is  surely  worth  while  to  determine  how  far,  if  at  all, 
the  blood  of  this  amiable  race  runs  in  the  veins  of  our 
Scottish  Tinklers.  And  the  answer  must  be  hardly  at 
all.  For  there  is  not  a  single  SheUa  word  in  any  of 
Simson's  lists,  and  the  few  words  I  recognise  as  Shelta  in 
Mr  M'Cormick's  vocabulary  show  that  any  interfusion 
of  the  Scottish  and  Irish  Tinkers  must  be  of  compara- 
tively recent  date.  These  Shelta  words  are  :  hewr, 
"woman;"  hm,  "little;"  chant,  "gill"  (properly 
"  pint  ")  ;  gather,  "  father;"  gatter,  "  beer  ;  "  gloinhach, 
"  man  ;"  gothliii,  "  child;"  granyi,  "  finger  ring  ;"  kain, 
"  house  ;"  vieltyug,  "  shirt  ;"  midjik,  ''  sixpence  ;" 
vionkery,  "lodgings"  (properly  "counny");  niiiog, 
"pig;"  needi,  "tinker"  (not  suggested  as  some  might 
suppose  by  Canning's  needy  knife-grinder,  but  a  regular 
backslang  formation  from  Irish  dame  "  person  ") ;  nyuk, 
"  a  penny  ;"  trass  (read  hi  ass),  "  food  ;"  tohcr,  "  road  ;" 
and  tyitg,  "  coat." 

Printed  in  a  rare  tract  is  a  sermon  of  Parson  Haberdyne 
"  in  Praise  of  Thieves  and  Thievery     .     .     .     which  he 


xvi.  Inttodidction. 

made  al  the  commandment  of  certain  thieves,  after  they 
had  robbed  him,  Vieside  Hartlerow  in  Hampshire,  in  the 
fields,  there  standing  upon  a  hill,  where  a  wind-mill  had 
been,  in  the  presence  of  the  thieves  that  robbed  him." 
It  is  one  of  the  most  excellent  discourses  in  the  world, 
with  a  happy  conclusion,  for  we  read  that  "  Thus  his 
sermon  being  ended  they  gave  him  his  money  again  that 
they  took  from  him,  and  ijs  to  drink  for  his  sermon." 
I  have  none  of  Parson  Haberdyne's  happy  gift  of  impro- 
visation, nor  is  the  role  of  the  rashai  mine  ;  but  to  all 
Tinklers  and  Tinkler  scholars  I  have  nothing  but  good- 
will ;  while  to  Mr  M'Cormick's  book  I  heartily  wish  te 
jal  develesa. 

JoH.v  Sampson. 


Preface  to  the  First  Edition. 


I  AM  grateful  to  all  who  havs  in  any  way  helped  me  in 
the  preparation  of  this  book.  I  must  commend  and 
thank  my  friends  the  Tinklers  themselves  for  their  un- 
failing courtesy  and  kindness  to  me  during  my  many 
interviews  with  them.  They  have  flung  their  "  coats 
upon  the  green  "  over  some  points  treated  of  in  this 
book,  and  manfully  maintained  their  arguments  by  hard 
blows  given  and  taken  in  real  Tinkler  fashion,  but  they 
have  on  all  occasions  been  kindly  disposed  and  polite 
to  me.  I  owe  a  speci'il  word  of  thanks  to  Mr  David 
MacRitchie,  Edinburgh,  formerly  co-ediior  (with  the  late 
Mr  F.  II.  Groome)  of  the  Journal  of  the  Gypsy  Lore 
Society,  for  invaluable  advice,  help,  and  encouragement  ; 
also  to  the  late  Mr  Alexander  Waugh,  banker,  Newton- 
Stewart,  and  Dr  M'Kie,  Newton-Stewart,  for  information 
in  regard  to  local  folklore  and  for  helping  with  the  revisal 
of  the  proof  sheets  ;  and  to  Dr  J.  Maxwell  Wood,  the 
editor,  and  Messrs  J.  Maxwell  &  Son,  the  publishers  of 
The  Gallovidian,  for  their  forbearance  and  kindness 
when  the  work  was  passing  through  the  Press.  To  Mr 
Theodore  Watts-Dunton,  the  author  of  Aylwin,  The 
Coming  of  Love,  &c.,  &c. ,  I  am  greatly  obliged  for 
leave  granted  to  make  use  of  the  foregoing  beautiful 
sonnet  and  generously-v\orded  letter.  To  Miss  E.  M. 
Johnstone,  Edinburgh  ;  Dr  Hamilton  Irving,  Iludders- 
field  ;  Mr  Malcolm  M  L.  Harper,  author  of  Rwiibles  in 
Galloivay,  iSic.  ;  and  Mr  John  Copland,  artist,  I  am 
indebted  for  sketches,  and  to  ^Ir  R.  B.  Sutcliffe  for  a 
plan,  specially  drawn  for  this  book,  and  to  numerous 
other  friends  for  illustrations  and  information  supplied. 

The  articles  included — with  the  exception  of  chapter 
vii.  (chapter  x.  of  this  edition),  now  published  for  the 
first  time,  and  chapter  viii.  (chapter  xi.  of  this  edition), 
which  appeared  in  atjbreviated  form  in  the  Galloivay 
Gazette — appeared  in  The  Galloviaian  under  the  title 
"  Billy  Marshall,  the  Caird  of  Barullion  and  King  of  the 
Galloway  Tinklers."  In  respect  that  Billy  Marshall  was 
ihe  most  noteworthy  of  the  Tinklers  of  Galloway  that 
title  was  not  altogether  inappropriate,  but  in  view  of 
the  scope  of  the  work  it  has  been  thought  advi.sable  to 
change  the  title  to  "  The  Tinkler-Gypsies  of  Galloway." 

The  book  itself  is  a  record  of  some  gleanings  along  a 
literary  Gypsy  by-path.  There  is  a  Polish  proverb  which 
says,  "  He  who  fraternises  with  a  Gypsy  becomes  himself 
a  Gypsy,"  and  so  far  as  treatment  of  the  subiect  is  con- 


xviii.  Prejace. 

cerned  I  have  grown  Gypsy-like,  for  I  liave  roamed 
about  far  and  near— and  ofuimes  searched  many  a  blind 
alley — to  rescue  and  record  some  of  the  meagre  infor- 
mation still  obtainable  about  our  Tinklers,  and  indeed 
(must  I  admit  it  ?)  I  have  at  times  strayed  into  subjects 
merely  akin  to  Gypsyism.  In  the  hope  of  enabling 
others,  better  able  than  I,  to  judge  of  the  former  gangs 
by  the  presenl-day  lot,  T  have  recorded  a  number  of 
my  interviews  with  some  of  the  hitter  at  camps  and 
elsewhere,  and  copiously  illustrated  the  book  by  photo- 
graphs. Even  the  "  nimminy-pimminy  people"  who 
think  such  a  subject  loiv  may  find,  by  thoughtfully 
studying  the  so-called  common  Tinklers,  much  that 
will  not  only  interest  them  but  broaden  their  minds  and 
add  to  their  humility  and  charity — unless  they  are  only 
capable  of  seeing  what  is  loiv  in  these  creatures  formed 
by  God  as  part  of  the  plan  of  the  universe.  Indeed, 
such  a  book  as  the  late  Mr  F.  II.  Groome's  In  Gypsy 
Tents  might,  with  propriety — and  splendid  results  too — 
be  commended  by  "  My  Lords "  as  a  model  of  the 
intimate  and  cordial  relationship  which  should  exist 
in   every   home   circle. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  Irish  Tinklers'  language, 
Sheila  or  Sheldrn  —discovered  quite  recently  by  the  late 
Mr  C.  G.  Iceland — is  none  other  tlian  that  used  by  the 
ancient  bards  of  that  country,  and  surely  it  is  worthy  of 
an  efil'ort  on  the  part  of  philologists  to  try  to  prove  what 
the  cant  ((•rt'/w;//  =  speech)  of  the  Scotch  Tinklers  is? 

In  pul)lishing  this  reprint  I  lake  courage  from  the  fact 
that  the  late  ^lr  F.  H.  Groome  has  left  it  on  record  that 
"There  lives  not  a  Romany  Rye  thai  has  not  something 
new  to  impart  to  his  tellow-studcnts."'  Loving  to  ramble 
in  the  open  air,  and  fond  of  reading,  I  have  already 
extracted  sufficient  reward  for  making  this  somewhat 
belated  attempt  to  rescue  information  about  the  strange 
people  treated  of  in  the  following  pages.  In  summer  my 
visits  to  camps  have  added  zest  and  excitement  to  many 
an  enjoyable  walk  in  this  lovely  Galloway  of  ours.  Only 
those  uho  have  caught  the  cult  of  Gypsyism  can  tell 
what  an  extraordinary  charm  and  fascination  there  is  in 
studying  and  reading  and  writing  about  the  Gypsy  race. 
If,  perchance,  I  have  succeeded  in  comnninicaling  some 
of  that  enjoyment  or  of  my  enthusiasm  to  any  of  my 
readers  I  shall  feel  driubly  rewarded. 

.\.    M-CORMICK. 

XK«T(1X-STR\VAKT, 

Chiishnastitle,  V.'Or,. 


Preface  to  the  Second  Edition. 


The  generous  impulse  which  caused  the  first  edition  of 
my  book  to  be  bought  up  within  a  few  weeks  after  it 
was  issued  has  placed  me  in  the  honourable  position  of 
being  invited  to  issue  a  new  edition. 

My  warmest  thanks  are  due  to  Mr  John  Sampson, 
Liverpool,  "  our  greatest  Gypsiologist,"  for  his  fine, 
scholarly  Introduction,  and  to  Mr  George  Meredith 
for  his  admirable  analysis  of  the  character  of  the 
Tinklers,  which  he  has  very  kindly  allowed  me  to  make 
use  of  in  issuing  this  edition,  and  which  will  be  found, 
as  a  fitting  final  word  about  the  Tinklers,  at  the  end  of 
this  book. 

The  book  has  been  revised  and  amended  throughout. 
Two  new  chapters  (No.  \TI.,  "A  Scotch  fjvpsy  A'iliage,"' 
and  VIII.,  "  Tinklers'  Bairns")  and  three  Tinkler  l-'olk- 
tales  have  been  added,  and  a  number  of  new  illustrations 
are  given.  As  a  wider  field  is  now  covered  by  this  work 
it  has  been  resolved  further  to  alter  the  title  to  "The 
Tinkler-Gypsies."' 

I  offer  my  most  cordial  thanks  to  my  readers,  and  I 
am  proud  to  acknowledge  that  the  kind  words  of  praise 
bestowed  by  many  critics  gladdened  my  heart.  It  would 
be  "  like  death  to  the  Tinkler— something  for  newance  " 
— if  my  book  had  not,  in  some  of  its  details,  met  with 
adverse  criticism.  I  have  sought  to  benefit  as  much  as 
possible  by  the  guidance  of  such  criticism. 

I  have  eliminated  a  good  deal  of  local  lore — which  was 
interesting  to  those  for  whom  the  articles  were  originally 
written — to  make  room  for  a  nuMiber  of  folk-tales  and 
traditions  calculated  to  be  of  greater  interest  to  the 
general  reader. 

A  word  of  explanation  is  called  for  by  some  of  my 
readers  as  to  how  I  came  to  write  this  book  and  as  to  the 
plan  of  it  :  For  a  reason  which  I  need  not  give  here, 
I  desired  to  study  the  Gyps)'  character.  I  had  read 
several  historical  treatises  c)n  the  subject  when  the 
perusal  of  Ayhvin  caused  me  lo  fall  in  love  with  Gypsy- 
ism,  and  mj'  love  still  grows.  I  read  everything  I  could 
lay  my  hands  on  pertaining  to  it.  Not  long  after  I  had 
been  thus  infected  I  was  approached  by  the  Editor  of  the 
Gallovidian  to  write  an  article  on  "  Billy  Marshall,'  a 
Gypsy  who  bulks  largely  in  the  public  memory.  At  first 
I   could  only  find  two  brief  references  to  that  hero,  and 


XX.  Preface. 

these  in  comparalively  rare  voUiincs.  I  wrote  the 
article,  but  searched  further  afield  both  in  books  and  by 
conversing  with  the  Tinklers  and  representatives  of  old 
Galloway  families  possessed  of  traditions  of  the  ancient 
province — the  result  Ijeing  that  instead  of  writing  one 
article  there  are  now  twelve,  all  embodied  in  the  volume, 
the  one  on  Billy  Marshall  being  partly  at  the  beginning 
and  partly  at  the  end,  with  here  and  there  a  connecting 
link  throughout. 

Vou  have  seen  a  rose  Ijush  grafted  on  a  wild  briar  ; 
and  anon  you  may  have  observed  the  briar  gaining  the 
ascendency  and  producing  a  wild  rose.  Just  such  a 
flower,  thrown  off  from  the  aboriginal  stem,  is  my  book, 
for  through  the  ages  there  has  descended  to  me  a  love 
for  what  is  free,  and  wild,  and  grand  in  nature  and  in 
people. 

I  trust  that  the  wider  publicity  which  this  issue  aims  at 
may  both  disseminate  information  about,  and  deepen 
sympathy  for,  the  [loor  Tinklers,  many  of  whom  have 
daily  a  liard  struggle  for  existence. 


A.   M'CORMICK. 


Xkwtdx-Stkwart, 

Christ  inaathle,  1'.I07. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter. 

I. — Billy  Marshall,  the  Caird  of  Barullion  and 
King  of  the  Galloway  Tinklers 

II.-  Do.  do.  d 

III. — The  Gypsies  of  Guy  Maniiering 

IV.  — Galwegian  Gypsy  Gangs 

V. — Gypsy  Gangs  in  Galloway 

\T. — Gypsy  Yarns  and  Camp  Scenes 

\TI. — A  Scotch  Gypsy  Village 

VIII. — Tinklers'  Bairns 

IX. — A  Modern  Gypsy  Folk-tale  Teller 

X. — Tinkler-Gypsies'  Origin   Discussed 

XI. — "German"  Gypsies  in  Galloway    .^ 

XII. — Galwegian  Gypsy  Worthies 

"  The  Tinklers'  Waddin'  "       . 


42 

85 
126 
204 
266 
324 
347 
365 
386 

457 
484 
536 


Appendix  :  "  Note  on  Shivering  the  Back  LilL' 

List  of  Authorities. 

List  of  Authorities  for  Traditions. 

Tinklers'  Cant  Vocabulary. 
Index. 


LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS, 


Sketch  :  Tinkler  Encampment 

Sketch  :  Tinklers  on  the  .March  (Blackcraig) 

Typical  Marshall  Encampment 

Billy  Marshall's  Signature  (fac-siuiile) 

Billy  Marshall's  Signature 

Boy's  Hand,  showing  "  Marshall  Mark  "    . 

Horn  Cup  made  by  Billy  Marshall 

Site  of  Billy's  Camping  Ground  (Brig  o'  Dee) 

"  Dirk  Hatteraick's  "  Cave,  near  Ravenshall 

Sketch  :  Barholm  Castle  (''  Ellangowan  ") 

Cave  on  "  Red  Strand  "     .... 

Cave  near  "Three  Cairns,"  Cairnsmore 

"  M'Clave's  Pantry,"  Cairnsmore 

Cave  on  "  Red  Strand"     .... 

Sketch  :   "  Old  Minnigaff  Fire-worshippers  " 
Tail-piece  ...... 

Barholm  Castle  ("  Ellangowan  ") 
Caerlaverock  Castle   ..... 

Carsluith  Castle 

"Julia  Mannering"  at  "  Ellangowan  "  (Barholm  Castle) 

Dominie  Sampson  and  Meg  Merrilies  in  the  Vault 

Map  of  Galwegian  Localities 

Terrs  Cave         ..... 

Sketch  :   "  Dirk  Hatteraick's"  Cave,  Ravenshall 

A  Modern  "  Meg  Merrilies  " 

"  Dirk  Hatteraick's"  (Vawkins')  Pistol 

"The  Boy  Tree"       .... 

"  The  Tinkler's  Loup  "      . 

Davock  Marshall  ("  Roughie  Paws  ") 

Descendants  of  Kilmaurs  Marshalls    . 

"The  Roughie  Paw  "... 

Spoon-making  Implements  used  by  Marshalls     . 

Galloway,  Perthshire,  and  Argyleshire  Tinklers  . 

Malcolm  Marshall 

Horn   Spoons  and   Ladles  made  by   the   Kennedies 

"  Caulms  "  used  by  Andrew  Kennedy 
Watsons    ........ 

MacMillans 

Galloway,  Cumberland,  Perthshire,  and  Argyleshire  Tinkle 
The  Doctor  and  the  Blind  (Highland)  Tinkler  Woman 
Vetholm  (Black)  Douglases         ..... 
Galloway  and  Cumberland  Tinklers    .... 
Galloway,  Cumberland,  Perthshire,  and  Argyleshire  Tinklers 
"  King  William"  Foots  it  Gaily 
.Marslialls 


Page. 
Frontispiece 
Title  Page 
3 


List  of  Illusirations. 


Wilsons     ..... 

Watsons,  MacMillans,  and  ^larshall 

Tail-piece 

Pretty  Partners . 

"  Kibsing  goes  by  Favour  ' 

"  On  Guard  "     . 

Yetholm  (Black)  D.iuglases 

English  Gypsy  Group 

O  I\iishto  Diikkerin  . 

"  Patience  "  and  '"Lijah" 

A  Caught  Smile 

A  Tickling  Joke 

Reading  Happy  Bozzle 

Tacho  Romanies  (W.B.)     . 
,.,     .       „  (G.B.)      . 

Tail-piece 

Pocket-hook  stolen  by  Billy's  Gang 

Marshalls  .... 

Marshalls  .... 

A  Typical  Marshal!    . 

A  Marshall 

A  King  and  Queen     . 

MacMillans 

A  Gcnetan 

Paper  Flag  Vendors  . 

Settled  Marshalls 

Watsons    .... 

Watsons    .... 

Tinkler  "White  Boys"      . 

A  North  American  Indian  Woman 

Tail-piece  .... 

Gypsy  Woman  and  Child  at  Las  Pal 

"  The  Good  Samaritan  "    . 

Cumberland  and  Galloway  Tinkl 

The  Blind  Tinkler  Woman 

Marshalls'  Hardy  Upbringing 

A  Derelict  and  an  Orphan  Boy 

Spanish  Gypsy  Woman  and  Children 

Tail-piece 

The  Gvpsy  Folk-tale  Teller 

Tail-piece 

Burns's  "Jolly  Beggars"'    . 

Spoiling  the  Gaiijoes  . 

A  Gypsy  Troup  on  the  March  through  Lorraine,  1604 

A  Gypsy  Troup  on  the  March  through   Lorraine,  1604 

"The  Halt" 

Piper  Allan         ...... 

Esther  Faa  Blythe,  late  Queen  of  the  Scotch  Gypsies 
Site  of  the  Blackmorrow  Well,  near  Kirkcudbright 
Kirk  Yetholm,  Headquarters  of  the  Scotch  Gypsies 


List  of  Illustratiofis. 


Charles  Faa  Blyihe,  late  King  of  tlie  Scotch  CJypsies 
Officials  of  Gypsy  Coronation  at  Yetholm  . 
Gypsy  C'oronation  at  Vetholm    .... 

Irish  Tinklers    ....... 

Irish  Tinklers    .  ... 

Irish  Tinklers    .  .  .... 

Orcadian  Tinkler  Boys        ..... 

Perthshire  Tinklers    ...... 

M'Larens  :   Forfarshire  Tinklers 

Forfarshire  Tinkler  .  .... 

Tinkler  (Roumanian  "  Calderar")  of  Gross-.Scheurn, 

sylvania       ....... 

Gypsy  "  Lingurar"  (Spoonmaker)  of  Transylvania 
Gypsy  "  Lingurar  "  (Spoonmaker)  of  Transylvania 
Tail -piece  ....... 

"  German  "  Gypsies  in  Galloway  (July,  1906)     . 
"  German  "  Gypsies  in  Galloway  (July,  1906)     . 
'Gyptian-wise     ....... 

Marono  and  her  Rom 
Marono  Dammo  and  Chabos 
Marono  Dammo         .... 

Posing  for  Bischli  Geld 

"An  Early  Visit  "      .... 

Initial  letter  T  (Cuddy  and  Creels) 
Sketch  from  The  Gaberhinzie^ s  Walk- 
Katie  O'Neil  or  Marshall  . 
"  Vagrants  "..... 

English  Gypsies  in  Galloway 

Irish  Tinklers    ..... 

"Cuddy's  Cave,"'  on  Ilazelrigg  Hill,  near 

umberland  ..... 
Snuff  "  MuU"  made  by  Billy  Mar.shall 
Horn  "Dividers"  made  by  Billy  Marshall 
Smoothing  Iron  made  by  Billy  Marshall 
"  Ursari  "  (Bear-leaders)  in  Galloway 
"  Ursari  "  (Bear-leaders)  of  Asia  Minor 
"Ursari"  (Bear-leaders)  of  Turkey    . 
"  Edie  Ochiltree's  "  Tombstone 
Back  of  "  Edie  Ochiltree's  "  Tombstone     . 
Billy  Mar.shall's  Tombstone,  Churchyard,  Kirkcudbri 
Back  of  I?illy  .Marshall's  Tombstone,  Churchyard,  Ki: 

bright '      . 

Marshalls  and  a  Wilson       ..... 
The  "  Murder  Hole"  of  Tradition 
The  "  -Murder  Hole  "  of  Romance      .  , 

Perthshire  and  Argyleshire  Tinklers  (with  reduced y^c 

note  !jy  Mr  George  Meredith  on  the  Tinklers) 
Reduced  fac-sintile  note   by  Mr  George  Meredith  o 

Tinklers      ....... 

Tail-piece  .....-,. 


Chatton,  Nortl 


Tran- 


;lit 
kcud- 


the 


THE  TINKLER-GYPSIES. 


"  The  duddy  deils,  in  mountain  glen, 

Lamenteth  ane  an'  a',  man  ; 

For  sic  a  king  they'll  never  ken 

In  bonnie  Gallowa',  man." 

Epitaph  on  Billy  Marshall  (MacTayg-art^. 


CHAPTER   I. 

ILLY  MARSHALL  was  held  in  high 
regard  by  the  Galloway  Tinklers 
of  whom  he  was  Chief,  and  even 
after  the  lapse  of  over  a  century 
since  Billy's  death  his  name  and 
fame  are  known  in  every  home  in  Galloway. 

In  the  annals  of  the  Gypsy  race  Billy  stands 
pre-eminent  on  account  of  his  remarkable 
longevity,  and  if  the  facts  of  his  life  could  be 
completely  laid  bare  to  the  gypsiologist,  that 
would  enable  many  a  point  in  dispute  with  regard 
to  the  Gypsy  race  to  be  settled.  Billy  was  both 
a  Tinkler  and  a  Gypsy,  and  is  supposed,  besides 
being  a  renowned  Gypsy  Chief,  to  have  been  the 


2  The  Ti)ikler-Gypsies. 

last  of  the  Pictish  Kings.  A  study  of  the 
languages  used  by  him  and  his  gang  should 
therefore  prove  an  invaluable  auxiliary,  not  only 
to  the  philologist  in  settling  whether  Billy  really 
was  both  a  Gypsy  and  a  Pict,  but  also  to  the 
gypsiologist  in  determining  the  proper  degree  of 
relationship  of  the  Scottish  Tinklers  and  Tinkler- 
Gypsies  to  the  wave  of  Gypsies  which  entered 
Ireland  or  Great  Britain  either  towards  the 
end  of  the  fifteenth  or  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century. 

Our  attitude  towards  the  Tinklers  renders  it 
somewhat  difficult  to  obtain  information  from 
them.  When  we  chance  upon  a  gang  of  Tinklers 
— such  as  that  depicted  in  Mr  Malcolm  M'L. 
Harper's  excellent  sketch  of  a  Tinklers'  encamp- 
ment, showing  "  Will  Marshall,  the  Protestant 
Tinkler,"  a  descendant  of  our  hero  Billy  Marshall, 
busy  making  tin  cans — what  are  our  feelings  ? 
Do  we  not  admire  the  picturesque  scene,  and  then 
noting  the  Tinklers  themselves  and  the  primitive 
conditions  under  which  they  exist,  does  not  some- 
thing akin  to  contempt  take  possession  of  us  ? 
These  same  feelings  are  the  direct  descendants 
of  the  feelings  which  have  alw^s  drawn  out, 
in  self-defence,  the  worst  characteristics  of  the 
Gypsies.  Their  physical  beauty,  graced  by  a 
pretty  style  of  dress  and  ornamentation,  charmed 
our  forefathers,   who,    nevertheless,    persecuted 


z^ 


5  -2   o 


II 


4  The  Tnikler-Gxpsies. 

and  even  hanged  many  of  them  merely  because 
they  were  habit  and  repute  Egyptians.  Need 
we  wonder,  then,  that  in  self-defence  they 
retaliated  ?  and  so  is  it  now.  Our  attitude  of 
contempt  towards  the  poor  Tinklers  is  our 
surest  way  to  perpetuate  their  worst  characteris- 
tics. Why  should  we  treat  them  so  ?  There  is 
much  in  their  ancestry  and  history  to  be  justly 
proud  of.  They  possess  a  strong  strain  of 
Pictish(?)  and  Gypsy  blood.  It  is  the  strength 
of  that  strain  that  has  caused  them  to  cling 
longer  than  their  neighbours  to  the  manners  and 
customs  of  their  ancestors.  Their  individuality 
has  been  too  strongly  marked  to  allow  them  to 
change  with  changing  polities.  Don't  let  us 
pass  them  by  merely  as  objects  of  idle  curiosity. 
They  are  a  most  intensely  interesting  class,  and 
if  we  would  only  break  down  that  barrier  of 
reserve  which  we,  by  our  attitude  of  contempt 
for  these  poor  strugglers  with  their  own 
individuality,  have  created  in  them,  w^e  would 
draw  out  what  is  best  in  them,  and,  whilst 
improving  their  minds  and  adding  to  their 
comforts  at  the  same  time,  obtain  much  useful 
and  interesting  information.  Our  perpetuated 
attitude  of  contempt  for  the  Tinklers  makes 
them  reserved  and  uncommunicative  in  the 
extreme,  but  when  once  this  defensive  wall 
is    broken     through,     as    Mr    Watts-Duntons, 


Tinklers'  Defensive  Reserve.  5 

the  late  George  l^orrow,  and  F.  H.  Groome 
have  all  affirmed,  "  the  charm  of  the  Romany 
character  is  '  frankness  and  simplicity.'  "  Often 
as  the  reader  may  have  seen  and  conversed  with 
the  Marshalls,  MacMillans,  and  other  Tinklers 
who  frequent  Galloway,  did  he  ever  imagine  that 
they  possess  the  remnants  of  languages  unknown 
to  ordinary  Gallovidians  ?  It  was  only  in  the 
summer  before  last — so  the  Marshalls  say — 
that  any  outsider  has  ever  learned  from  them 
that  they  possess  a  speech  or  "  cant  "  of  their 
own  in  which  there  are  many  Romani  words. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  no  systematic  attempt 
was  made  immediately  after  Billy's  death  to 
record  the  stirring  events  of  his  life,  and  any 
meagre  particulars  now  obtainable  are  open  only 
to  those  having  access  to  a  few  rare  books,  and 
who  have  an  opportunity  of  meeting  with  Billy's 
descendants,  of  hearing  traditions  related  by 
old  residenters,  and  of  visiting  the  lonely  haunts 
which  Billy  used  to  frequent. 

Since  even  such  mengre  particulars  as  remain 
of  Billy's  eventful  life  can  only  be  found  in  that 
scattered  form,  it  may  be  of  interest  if,  in  order 
to  get  a  belter  insight  into  Billy's  lifework  and 
character,  an  attempt  is  made  to  compile  the 
essential  parts  of  written  accounts,  and  if  the 
opportunity  thus  afforded  is  taken  to  place  upon 
record  as  many  as  po?sible  of  the  floating  tradi- 


6  The  Tinkler-Gyf'sies. 

tions  and  particulars  as  are  yet  obtainable  about 
Billy.  Even  at  this  eleventh  hour  it  may  prove 
useful  to  rescue  from  oblivion  what  little  inftjrma- 
tion  still  remains.  It  is  only  by  supplying  from 
all  quarters  where  Gypsies  and  Tinklers  fre([uent 
carefully  collected  local  information  that  suffi 
cient  data  will  ever  be  obtained  to  enable  some 
clever  Gypsiologist  to  write  an  up-to-date  history 
of  the  Gypsies,  and  in  this  connection  it  is  a 
thousand  pities  that  The  Gypsy  Lore  Journal* 
has  become  defunct,  for  it  is  only  through  the 
medium  of  a  central  journal,  such  as  it  wa"?, 
that  the  collection  oi  such  information  can  be 
judiciously  encouraged  and  the  material  so 
obtained  carefully  classified. 

There  are  many  books  in  which  references  to 
Billy  occur,  but  in  most  cases  these  have  merely 
been  culled  from  former  records,  and  in  this 
account  of  Billy's  life  the  primal  record  of  any 
event  will,  as  far  as  practicable,  be  taken. 

The  M'Culloch  family,  of  whom  there  are  at 
present  several  branches  of  landed  proprietors 
in  the  Stevvaitr)-,  seem  to  have  taken  a  kindly 
interest  m  Billy,  and  in  return  he  appears  to 
have  been  very  grateful  to  them  ;  indeed  to 
this  day  Billy's  descendants  speak  highly  of 
the    varicnis    branches    of    that    family.       Bill)- 

*  Revived,  we  rejoice  to  record,  on  -JuIn  ,  1!K>7,  under  the 
Honorary  Secretaryship  of  Mr  R.  A.  Scott-Maefie,  «  Hope  Place, 
Liverpool. 


Former  Recnrds.  7 

and  his  gang  often  halted  at  the  home  of 
the  M'CuUochs,  and  it  is  fitting  and  fortunate 
that  a  scion  of  that  house,  the  late  Mr  James 
Murray  M'Culloch  of  Ardwall,  should  have 
placed  upon  record,  in  the  following  letter  to 
Blackwood's  Magazine,^*  what  is  the  most 
trustworthy  account  of  Billy's  life  : — 

"  Some  Account  of  Billy   Marshall,  a 
Gypsy  Chief. 

"  Mr  Editor, — Among  some  instructive  and 
many  entertaining  articles  in  your  magazine, 
I  have  been  a  good  deal  amused  in  reading 
your  account  of  the  Gypsies,  and  more  particu- 
larly of  the  Gypsies  of  our  own  country.  The 
race  has  certainly  degenerated  (if  I  may  be 
allowed  to  use  the  expression),  and  is  in  some 
risk  of  becoming  extinct — whether  to  the  advan- 
tage of  society  or  not  I  will  leave  to  the  profound 
to  determine.  In  the  meantime  I  am  very  well 
pleased  that  you  have  united  with  the  anonymous 
author  of  Guy  Maimering  in  recording  the 
existence,  the  manners,  and  the  customs  of  this 
wonderful  people. 

"  But  I  have  been,  I  assure  you,  in  no  small 
degree  disappointed  when  reading  the  names  of 
the  Faas,  the  Baileys,  the  Gordons,  the  Shaws, 
the    Browns,    the  Keiths,    the   Kennedies,    the 

*Such  numbers  refer  to  a  list  of  authorities  which  will  be 
found  in  the  Appendix. 


8  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Ruthvens,  the  Youngs,  the  Taits,  the  Douglases, 
the  Blythes,  the  Allans,  and  the  Montgomeries, 
etc.,  to  observe  so  noted  a  family  as  the 
Marshalls  altogether  omitted.  I  beg  leave  to 
add  that  your  author  will  be  considered  either  a 
very  ignorant  or  a  very  partial  historian  by  all 
the  readers  and  critics  in  the  extensive  districts 
of  Galloway  and  Ayrshire  if  he  persists  in 
passing  over  in  silence  the  distinguished  family 
of  Billy  Marshall,  and  its  numerous  cadets.  I 
cannot  say  that  I,  as  an  individual,  owe  any 
obligations  to  the  late  Billy  Marshall ;  but,  sir, 
I  am  one  of  an  old  family  in  the  Stewartry  of 
Galloway  with  whom  Billy  was  intimate  for 
nearly  a  whole  century.  He  visited  regularly 
twice  a  year  my  great-grandfather,  grandfather, 
and  father,  and  partook,  I  daresay,  of  their 
hospitality,  but  he  made  a  grateful  and  ample 
return  ;  for  during  all  the  days  of  Billy's 
natural  life,  which  the  sequel  will  shew  not  to 
have  been  few,  the  washings  could  have  been 
safely  left  out  all  night  without  anything  from  a 
sheet  or  a  tablecloth  down  to  a  dishclout  being 
in  any  danger.  During  that  long  period  of 
time  there  never  was  a  goose,  turkey,  duck,  or 
hen  taken  away  but  what  could  have  been  clearly 
traced  to  the  fox,  the  brock,  or  the  fumart ;  and 
I  have  heard  an  old  female  domestic  of  ours 
declare  that  she  had  known  Billy  Marshall  and 


Billy  Proves  his  Gratitude.  9 

his  gang,  again  and  again,  mend  all  the  '  kettles, 
pans,  and  crackit  pigs  in  the  house,  and  make 
twa  or  three  dozen  o'  horn  spoons  into  the 
bargain,  and  never  tak'  a  farthin'  o'  the  laird's 
siller.'  I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  give  you  any 
very  minute  history  of  my  hero  :  however,  I 
think  it  a  duty  I  owe  on  account  of  my  family 
not  to  allow,  as  far  as  I  can  hinder  it,  the  memory 
and  name  of  so  old  a  friend  and  benefactor  to 
fall  into  oblivion  when  such  people  as  the  Faas 
and  Baileys,  etc.,  are  spoken  of. 

"Where  he  was  born  I  cannot  tell.  Who 
were  his  descendants  I  cannot  tell  ;  I  am  sure 
he  could  not  do  it  himself  if  he  were  living.  It 
is  known  that  they  were  prodigiously  numerous 
— I  daresay  numberless.  For  a  great  part  of 
his  long  life  he  reigned  with  sovereign  sway  over 
a  numerous  and  powerful  gang  of  Gypsy  Tinkers 
who  took  their  range  over  Carrick,  in  Ayrshire, 
the  Carrick  mountains,  and  over  the  Stewartry 
and  Shire  of  Galloway  ;  and  now  and  then  by 
way  of  improving  themselves  and  seeing  more 
of  the  world  they  crossed  at  Donaghadee,  and 
visited  the  counties  of  Down  and  Derry.  I  am 
not  very  sure  about  giving  you  up  Meg  Merrilies 
quite  so  easily  ;  1  have  reason  to  think  she  was 
a  Marshall,  and  not  a  Gordon  ;  and  we  folks  in 
Oalloway  think  this  attempt  of  the  Borderers  to 
rob  us  of  Meg  Merrilies  no  proof  that  they  have 


lo  The  Ti>ikler-Gypsies. 

become  quite  so  religious  and  pious  as  your 
author  would  have  us  to  believe,  but  rather  that 
with  their  religion  and  piety  they  still  retain 
some  of  their  ancient  habits.  We  think  this 
attempt  to  deprive  us  of  Meg  Merrilies  almost 
as  bad  as  that  of  the  descendants  of  the 
barbarous  Picts  now  inhabiting  the  banks  of  the 
Dee  in  Aberdeenshire,  who  some  years  ago 
attempted  to  run  off  with  the  beautiful  lyric  of 
"  Mary's  Dream,"  and  which  we  were  under  the 
necessity  of  proving  in  one  of  the  courts  of 
Apollo  to  be  the  effusion  of  Low's  muse  on  the 
classic  and  romantic  spot,  situated  at  the  conflux 
of  the  Dee  and  the  Ken,  in  the  Stewartry  of 
Galloway.  But  to  return  from  this  digression  to 
Piilly  Marshall — I  will  tell  \ou  everything  more 
about  him  I  know,  hoping  this  may  catch  the 
eye  of  some  one  who  knew  him  better,  and  who 
will  tell  you  more. 

"Billy  Marshall's  account  ot  himself  was  this  : 
He  was  born  in  or  about  the  year  1666,  but  he 
might  have  been  mistaken  as  to  the  exact  year 
of  his  birth.  However,  the  fact  never  was 
doubted  of  his  having  been  a  i)rivate  soldier  m 
the  army  of  King  William  at  the  battle  of  the 
Boyne.  It  was  also  well  known  that  he  was  a 
private  in  some  of  the  British  regiments  which 
served  under  the  great  Duke  of  Marlborough  in 
Germany   about    the    year    1705.     But   at  this 


Appreciation  of  Keltouhill  Fair.  \  i 

period  Billy's  military  career  in  the  service  of 
his  country  ended.  About  this  time  he  went  to 
his  commanding  officer,  one  of  the  M'Gufifogs 
of  Ruscoe,  a  very  old  family  in  Galloway,  and 
asked  him  if  he  had  any  commands  for  his 
native  country.  Being  asked  if  there  rt'as  any 
opportunity,  he  replied  yes  ;  he  was  going  to 
Keltonhill  Fair,  having  for  some  years  made  it 
a  rule  never  to  be  absent.  His  officer,  knowmg 
his  man,  thought  it  needless  to  take  any  very 
strong  measures  to  hinder  him  ;  and  Billy  was 
at  Keltonhill  accordingly. 

"  Now  Billy's  destinies  placed  him  in  a  high 
sphere;  it  was  about  this  period  that,  either 
electively  or  by  usurpation,  he  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  that  mighty  people  in  the  south-west, 
whom  he  governed  with  equal  prudence  and 
talent  for  the  long  space  of  eighty  or  ninety 
years.  Some  of  his  admirers  assert  that  he  was 
of  Royal  ancestry,  and  that  he  succeeded  by  the 
laws  of  hereditary  succession  ;  but  no  regular 
annals  of  Billy's  house  were  kept,  and  oral 
tradition  and  testimony  weigh  heavily  against 
this  assertion.  From  any  research  I  have  been 
able  to  make  I  am  strongly  disposed  to  think 
that  in  this  crisis  of  his  life  Billy  Marshall  had 
been  no  better  than  Julius  C^sar,  Richard  III., 
Oliver  Cromwell,  Hyder  Alley,  or  Napoleon 
Buonaparte.      I   do  not    mean    to   say    that  he 


12  The  Ti/ikhr-Gypsies. 

waded  through  as  much  blood  as  some  of  those 
to  seat  himself  on  a  throne,  or  to  grasp  at  the 
diadem  and  sceptre,  but  it  was  shrewdly 
suspected  that  Billy  Marshall  had  stained  his 
character  and  his  hands  with  human  blood. 
His  predecessor  died  very  suddenly,  it  never 
was  supposed  by  his  own  hand,  and  he  was 
buried  as  privately  about  the  foot  of  Cairnsmuir, 
Craig  Nelder,  or  the  Corse  of  Slakes  without  the 
•ceremony,  or  perhaps,  more  properly  speaking, 
the  benefit  of  a  precognition  being  taken,  or  an 
inquest  held  by  the  coroner's  jury.  During  this 
long  reign  he  and  his  followers  were  not  outdone 
in  their  exploits  by  any  of  the  colonies  of  Kirk- 
Yetholm,  Horncliff,  Spital,  or  I-ochmaben.  The 
following  anecdote  will  convey  a  pretty  correct 
notion  of  what  kind  of  personage  Billy  was  in 
the  evening  of  his  life  ;  as  for  his  early  days, 
I  redly  know  nothing  more  of  them  than  what 
I  have  already  told. 

"  The  writer  of  this,  in  the  month  of  May, 
1789,  had  returned  to  Galloway  after  a  long 
absence.  He  soon  learned  that  Billy  Marshall, 
of  whom  he  had  heard  so  many  tales  in  his 
childhood,  was  still  in  existence.  U[)on  one 
occasion  he  went  to  Newton-Stewart,  with  the 
late  Mr  M'Culloch  of  Barholm  and  the  late  Mr 
Hannay  of  Bargaly,  to  dine  with  Mr  Samuel 
M'Caul.       Billy    Marshall    then    lived    at    the 


Billy  in  his  iijth  Year.  13 

hamlet  or  clachan  of  Polnure,  a  spot  beautifully 
situated  on  the  burn  or  stream  of  that  name. 
We  called  on  our  old  hero — he  was  at  home — 
he  never  denied  himself,  and  soon  appeared. 
He  walked  slowly,  but  firmly,  towards  the 
carriage,  and  asked  Mr  Hanniy,  who  was  a 
warm  friend  of  his,  how  he  was.  Mr  Hannay 
asked  if  he  knew  who  was  in  the  carriage  ?  He 
answered  that  his  eyes  '  had  failed  him  a  gude 
dale,'  but  added  that  he  saw  his  friend  Barholm. 
and  that  he  could  see  a  youth  sitting  betwixt 
them  whom  he  did  not  know.  I  was  introduced, 
and  had  a  gracious  shake  of  his  hand.  He  told 
me  I  was  setting  out  in  life,  and  admonished  me 
to  '  tak'  care  o'  my  han',  and  do  naething  to 
dishonour  the  gude  stock  o'  folk  that  I  was 
come  o'.'  He  added  that  I  was  the  fourth 
generation  of  us  he  had  been  acquaint  wi'. 
Each  of  us  paid  a  small  pecuniary  tribute  of 
respect.  I  attempted  to  add  to  mine,  but 
Barholm  told  me  he  had  fully  as  much  as  would 
be  put  to  a  good  use.  We  were  returning  the 
same  way,  betwixt  ten  and  eleven  at  night,  after 
spending  a  pleasant  day,  and  taking  a  cheerful 
glass  with  our  friend  Mr  M'Caul  ;  we  were  des- 
cending the  beautifully  wooded  hills,  above  the 
picturesque  glen  of  Polnure,  my  two  companions 
were  napping,  the  moon  shone  clear,  and  all 
nature  was  quiet  excepting  Polnure   Burn  and 


T4  The  Ti/ikkr-Gypsits. 

the  dwelling  of  Billy  Marshall,  the  postillion 
stopped  (in  these  parts  the  well-known  and  well- 
liked  Johnny  Whurk),  and  turning  round  with  a 
I  voice  which  indicated  terror,  he  said  '  Gude 
guide  us,  there's  folk  singing  Psalms  in  the  wud.' 
My  companions  awoke  and  listened.  Barholm 
said  'Psalms,  sure  enough,'  but  Bargaly  said 
'  the  deil  a-bit  o'  them  are  Psalms.'  We  went 
on,  and  stopped  again  at  the  door  of  the  old  king. 
We  then  heard .  Billy  go  through  a  great  many 
stanzas  of  a  song  in  such  a  way  as  convinced  us 
that  his  memory  and  voice  had,  at  any  rate,  not 
failed  him  ;  he  was  joined  by  a  numerous  and 
powerful  chorus.  It  is  quite  needless  to  be  so 
minute  as  to  give  any  account  of  the  song 
which  Billy  sung  ;  it  will  be  enough  to  say  that 
my  friend  Barholm  was  completely  wrong  in 
supposing  it  to  be  a  Psalm — it  resembled  in  no 
particular  Psalm,  Paraphrase,  or  hymn.  We 
called  him  out  again  ;  he  appeared  much  brisker 
than  he  was  in  the  morning.  We  advised  him 
to  go  to  bed,  but  he  replied  that  '  he  didna 
think  he  wad  be  muckle  in  his  bed  that  nicht, 
they  had  to  lak'  the  country  in  the  mornin'  ' 
(meaning  that  they  were  to  begin  a  ramble  over 
■V  -  the  country),  and  that  they  '  were  just  takin'  a 
'  \  wee  drap  drink  to  the  health  of  our  honours, 
wi'  the  lock  siller  we  had  gi'en  them.'  I  shook 
hands  with   him    for   the    last    time ;    he  then 


Remarkable  Longevity  Confirmed.        15 

called  himself  above  one  hundred  and  twenty    j 
years  of  age;  he  died  about   1790.     His  great    I 
age  never  was  disputed  to  the  extent  of  more    I 
than  three  or  four  years  ;    the  oldest  people  in    i 
the  country  allowed  the  account  to  be  correct.    } 
The    great-grandmother    of   the    present    writer  | 
died  at  the  advanced  age  of  104  ;  her  age  was 
correctly  known.     She  said  that  Wull  Marshall  t 
was   a  man   when   she  was  a  bit  callant  (pro- 
vincially,  in  Galloway,  a  very  young  girl).     She 
had  no  doubt  as  to  his  being  fifteen  or  sixteen 
years  older  than  herself,  and    he   survived  her 
several  years.      His  long  reign,   if  not  glorious, 
was  in  the  main  fortunate  for  himself  and  his 
people.     Only  one  great  calamity  befel  him  and 
them  during  that  long  space  of  time  in  which 
he  held  the  reins  of  government.     It  may  have 
been  already  suspected  that,  with  Billy  Marshall, 
ambition  was  a  ruling  passion,  and   this  bane  of 
human  fortune  had  stimulated   in  him  a  desire  1 
to  extend  his  dominions,   from  the  Brig-en'  of  \ 
Dumfries  to  the  Newton  of  Ayr,  at  a  time  when- 
he  well  knew   the   Braes   of   Glenapp  and  the 
Water  of  Doon  to  be  his  western  precinct.     He 
reached  the  Newton  of  Ayr,  which  I  believe  is 
in  Kyle,  but  there   he   was  opposed  and  com- 
pelled to  recross  the  river  by  a  powerful  body 
of  Tinkers  from  Argyle  or  Dumbarton.    He  said 
in   his   bulletins    that  they   were  supported  by 


1 6  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

strong  bodies  of  Irish  sailors  and  Kyle  colliers. 
Billy  had  no  artillery,  but  his  cavalry  and 
infantry  suffered  very  severely.  He  was  obliged 
to  leave  a  great  part  of  his  baggage,  provisions^ 
and  camp  equipage  behind  him,  consisting  of 
kettles,  pots,  pans,  blankets,  ciockery,  horns, 
pigs,  poultry,  etc.  A  large  proportion  of 
shelties,  asses,  and  mules  were  driven  into  the 
water  and  drowned,  which  occasioned  a  heavy 
loss  in  creels,  panniers,  hampers.  Tinkers'  tools, 
and  cooking  utensils,  and,  although  he  was  as 
well  appointed,  as  to  a  medical  staff,  as  such 
expeditions  usually  were,  in  addition  to  those 
who  were  missing  many  died  of  their  wounds. 
However,  on  reaching  Maybole  with  his  broken 
and  dispirited  troops  he  was  joined  by  a  faithful 
ally  from  the  county  of  Down,  who,  unlike 
other  allies  on  such  occasions,  did  not  forsake 
him  in  his  adversity.  This  junction  enabled 
our  hero  to  rally,  and  pursue  in  his  turn.  A 
pitched  battle  was  again  fought,  somewhere 
about  the  Brig  of  Doon  or  AUoway  Kirk,  when 
both  sides,  as  is~iisual,  claimed  a  victory,  but, 
however  this  may  have  been,  it  is  believed  that 
this  disaster,  which  happened  a.d.  17 12,  had 
slaked  the  thirst  of  Billy's  ambition.  He  was 
many  years  in  recovering  from  the  effects  of 
this  great  pcjlitical  error;  indeed,  it  had  nearly 
proved  as  fatal  to  the  fortunes  of  Billy  Marshall 


Bi/Ifs  Character.  I'j 

as  the  ever-memorable  Russian  Campaign  did 
to  Napoleon  Buonaparte,  about  the  same  year 
in  the  succeeding  century. 

"  It  is  usual  for  writers  to  give  the  character 
along  with  the  death  of  their  prince  or  hero.  I 
would  like  to  be  excused  from  the  performance 
•of  any  such  task  as  drawing  the  character  of 
Billy  Marshall,  but  it  may  be  done  in  a  few 
words  by  saying  that  he  had  from  nature  a 
strong  mind,  with  a  vigorous  and  active  person; 
and  that,  either  naturally  or  by  acquirement, 
he  possessed  every  mental  and  personal  quality 
which  was  requisite  for  one  who  was  placed  in 
his  high  station,  and  who  held  sovereign  power 
over  his  fellow  creatures  for  so  great  a  length  of 
time.  I  would  be  glad  if  I  could,  with  impar- 
tiality, close  my  account  here ;  but  it  becomes 
my  duty  to  add  that  (from  expediency,  it  is 
believed,  not  from  choice),  with  the  exception  of 
intemperate  drinking,  treachery,  and  ingratitude, 
he  practised  every  crime  which  is  incident  to 
human  nature.  Those  of  the  deepest  dye,  I  am 
afraid,  cannot  with  truth  be  included  in  the 
exception.  In  short,  his  people  met  with  an 
irreparable  loss  in  the  death  of  their  king  and 
leader,  but  it  never  was  alleged  that  the  moral 
world  sustained  any  loss  by  the  death  of  the 
man.  "  (Intd.)       L. 

"Edinburgh,  May  26,  1S17." 


1 8  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Fortunate  it  is,  also,  that  no  less  an  authority 
than  Sir  Walter  Scott  has  furnished  us — in  his 
additional  Prefatory  Note  to  Guy  Mann'ring' — ■ 
with  a  list  showing  some  of  Billy's  peculiarities. 
That  list,  though  not  by  any  means  exhaustive, 
is  sufficiently  comprehensive  and  characteristic 
to  indicate  that  Billy  was,  at  least,  entitled  to 
notoriety  :  "  '  Meg  Merrilies  '  is,  in  Galloway, 
considered  as  having  had  her  origin  in  the  tradi- 
tions concerning  the  celebrated  Flora  Marshall, 
one  of  the  Royal  Contorts  of  William  Marshall, 
more  commonly  called  the  Caird  of  BaruUioiir 
King  of  the  Gypsies  of  the  A\'estern  Lowlands. 
That  potentate  was  himself  deserving  of  notice 
from  the  following  peculiarities  : — He  was  born 
in  the  parish  of  Kirkmichael  about  the  year 
1671  ;  and  as  he  died  at  Kirkcudbright,  23rd 
November,  1792,  he  must  then  have  been  in  the 
I  20th  year  of  his  age.  It  cannot  be  said  that 
this  unusually  long  lease  of  existence  was  noted 
by  any  peculiar  e.xcellence  of  conduct  or  habits 
of  life.  Willie  had  been  pressed  or  enlisted 
seven  times,  and  had  deserted  as  often  ;  besides 
three  times  running  away  from  the  Naval 
Service.  He  had  been  seventeen  times  lawfully 
married,  and  besides  such  a  reasonably  large 
V^  share  of  matrimonial  comforts  was,  after  his 
,  1 00th  year,  the  avowed  father  of  four  children 
(,  by  less  legitimate  affections.     He  subsisted  in 


Some  Peculiarities.  19 

his  extremely  old  age  by  a  pension  from  the 
present  Earl  of  Selkirk's  grandfather.  Will 
Marshall  is  buried  in  Kirkcudbright  Church, 
where  his  monument  is  still  shown,  decorated 
with  a  scutcheon  suitably  blazoned  with  two 
tups'  horns  and  two  cutty  spoons." 

Some  of  these  "  peculiarities,"  when  practised 
amongst  Galloway  men  who  fought  and  bled  to 
uphold  their  Covenanting  principles,  and  who 
at  the  period  in  question  seldom  read  aught 
save  books  on  religious  instruction — such  as  the 
Bible,  Bunyan's  Pilgrim  s  Progress,  and  Boston's 
Fom-fold  State — would  have  branded  any  man 
as  infamous.  Nevertheless,  if  the  reader  fails 
to  remember  that  Billy  Marshall  was  possibly  a 
Pictish  King  as  well  as  a  Gypsy  Chief,  ruled  by 
different  laws  and  customs  from  those  prevailing 
in  the  district  frequented  by  his  gang,  he  will 
do  the  memory  of  Billy  a  grave  injustice.  And, 
whisper  it  softly,  it  can  be  clearly  demonstrated 
that  many  of  Billy's  worst  "  peculiarities "  are 
not  Romani  characteristics,  and  must  be  attri- 
buted to  his  Pictish  blood,  a  strain  common 
alike  to  the  Tinklers  of  Galloway  and  to  many 
another  Gallovidian. 

Reprehensible  as  many  of  Billy's  peculiarities 
may  appear  when  judged  by  modern  standards, 
it  would  seem  "  that  parsons  contended  for  him, 
and  different  parishes  claimed   the   honour   of 


20  The  Tifikler-Gypsies. 

his  nativity."  Kirkmichiel,  Dumfriesshire,  and 
Kirkmichael,  Ayrshire,  and  Crossmichael  and 
Minnigaff  in  Kirkcudbrightshire,  appear  to  be 
the  claimants  for  this  honour. 

The  Scots  Magazine'^  gives  the  palm  to  Kirk- 
michael Parish,  Ayrshire,  in  the  following 
obituary  notice,  under  date  November  28, 
1792  :— 

"At  Kirkcudbright,  aged  120,  ^\'illiam 
Marshall,  Tinkler.  He  was  a  native  of  the 
Parish  of  Kirkmichael,   Ayrshire." 

Sir  \\'alter  Scott,  as  above  indicated,  also 
names  Kirkmichael — but  does  not  say  whether 
of  Dumfriesshire  or  Ayrshire — as  his  birthplace, 
and  that  information,  according  to  the  Memoir 
of  Joseph  Train,  the  antiquarian  correspondent 
of  Sir  Walter  Scott, ^  would  be  obtained  from 
Train,  who  lived  for  a  time  at  each  of  Newton- 
Stewart,  Dumfries,  Wigtown,  and  Castle-Douglas 
— all  towns  situated  within  Billy's  sphere  of 
influence.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Old 
Statistical  Account^  for  the  Parishes  of  Kirk- 
michael, Dumfriesshire  (1791),  and  Kirkmichael, 
Ayrshire  (1793),  makes  no  reference  to  Billy 
Marshall  ;  but  in  the  Old  Statistical  Account  for 
the  Parishes  of  Crossmichael  (1791),  Minnigaff 
(1793),  and  Kirkcudbright  (1794) — all  in  Kirk- 
cudbrightshire— the  followinii  references  occur  : 


Place  of  Birth.  2  r 

CROSSMICIIAEL.— Vol..  I.,  p.  16S. 
By  the  Rev.  John  Johnstone. 
"  The  people  live  not  in  towns  or  villages,  and  most 
of  them  are  employed  in  agriculture,  which  is  favourable 
at  once  to  health,  longevity,  and  morals.     Within  these 
twenty  years  at  least  12  persons  have  died  in  the  lower; 
parts  of  Galloway  from    100  to   115  years  old.     William  I 
Marshal,  a  tinker  in  this  place,  is  now  118.     lie  might 
pass  for  a  man  of  60.     His  faculties  are  unimpaired,  and  ' 
he  walks  through  the  country  with  ease." 

MINNIGAFF.-  -Vol.  VII.,  p.  53. 
By  the  Rev.  John  GAULiiis   Maitland. 
"  Instances  of  longevity  are   frequent  in  this  parish. 
One  man,  still  alive,   is  said   to  be   118  years  of  age. 
This,  however,   rests  chiefly  on  his  own  testimony,  as 
no  authentic  record  of  his  birth  has  ever  been  produced. 
Ilis  name  is  William  Marshall  ;  he  has  the  remains  of  an 
athletic  frame.     In  his  youth  he  was  a  soldier.     He  says 
he  served  under  King  William  in  Ireland.      If  this  was  _ 
the  case  he  certainly  does  not  exaggerate  his  age,  but  of 
this  part  of  his  history  there  is  no  better  evidence  than 
that  of  his  age  itself.       That  his  age,  however,  is  very 
great  there  is  this  presumptive  proof,  that  none  of  the 
oldest  people  in  this  county  have  ever  contradicted  his 
assertion." 

KIRKCUDBRIGHT.— Vol.  XL,  pp.  15  and  16. 

By  the  Rev.  Robkrt  Muter,  D.D. 
"  The  following  instances  of  longevity  it  may  be  pro- 
per to  insert.  .  .  .  And  on  28th  November,  1792, 
VVillinm  Marshall,  tinker,  died  here  at  the  astonishing 
age  of  I20.^''  Though  he  was  not  a  native  of  this  place, 
but  of  Kirkmichael,  in  the  shixe_of  Ayr,  yet  for  several 
years  before  he  died  he  resided  often  in  this  burgh.  This 
miracle  of  longevity  retained  his  senses  almost  to  the 
last  hour,  and  distinctly  remembered  to  have  seen  King 

*  Erroneously  quoted  as  90  at  p.  5-21,  Vol.  II.,  reprint  of 
Chambers's  Caledonia. 


2  2  The  Tinkkr-Gypsits. 

William's  fleet  when  on  Iheir  way  to  Ireland,  ridint;  at 
anchor  in  the  Solway  Firth,  close  by  the  Bay  of  Kirkcud- 
bright, and  the  transports  lying  in  the  harbour.  His 
funeral  was  attended  by  a  large  concourse  of  people  of  all 
ranks,  who  paid  due  respect  to  his  astonishing  age." 

It  is  only  fair  to  Kirkmichael,  Dumfriesshire, 
to  add  that  the  following  interesting  account, 
which  may  or  may  not  refer  to  Billy,  appears  in 
the  Old  Statistical  Account  for  that  parish 
(1791)  :  — 

KIRKMICHAEL  IN  COUNTY  OF  DUMFRIES. 
Vol.  I.,  p.  57. 
"  One  man  in  the  parish  is  103  years  old.  His 
account  of  himself  is  that  he  was  born  in  the  borrowing 
days  of  the  year  that  King  William  came  in  {i.e.,  in  one 
of  the  three  last  days  of  March,  1688),  and  that  he  was 
baptised  in  hidlings  {i.e.,  secretly)  by  a  Presbyterian 
minister  the  following  summer,  as  the  curates  were  then 
in  the  kirks.  Though  he  is  now  mostly  confined  to  bed 
he  retains  his  mental  faculties  very  distinct,  and  three 
years  ago  he  wrought  at  the  harvest  in  perfect  health  and 
spirits." 

However,  the  accounts  of  liilly  in  the  Statis- 
tical Accounts  for  Crossmichael,  Minnigaff, 
and  Kirkcudbright  seem  to  negative  any  pro- 
bability of  that  account  being  a  description  of 
Billy.  The  fact  also  that  when  Mr  M'Culloch 
met  with  him  in  the  month  of  May,  1789, 
he  was  so  hale  and  healthy  as  to  be  able  to 
indulge  in  an  all-night  spree  before  proceeding 
"to  tak'  the  country  in  the  morning,"  and  that, 
when  in  his  120th  year,  he  had  journeyed  from 


Place  of  Birth.  23 

Kirkcudbright,  where  he  then  lived,  to  Newton- 
Stewart,  where  on  21st  March,  1792,  he  signed 
the  conveyance  of  his  property  at  Minnigaff, 
precludes  that  it  could  be  reasonably  claimed 
that  the  man  referred  to  in  the  Kirkmichael 
(Dumfriesshire)  Account  is  the  same  as  the  one 
(William  Marshall)  actually  named  in  the  other 
three  Accounts. 

In  the  New  Statistical  Account  (1845)"  for 
the  five  parishes  above  alluded  to  the  following 
is  the  only  reference  made  to  Billy : — 

"  Minnigaff. — The  parish  is  liealihy,  and  instances 
of  longevity  are  not  infrequent.  The  person  mentioned 
in  the  last  Account  as  being  118  years  of  age  died 
aged    121." 

In  Herotis  Tours'  the  conflicting  claims  of 
Minnigaff  and  Crossmichael  are  thus  dealt 
•with  : — 

"  William  Marshall,  a  man  of  the  gypsey-gang,  a  native 
of  the  adjacent  parish  of  Minnigaff,  died  lately  at  an  age 
considerably  above  an  hundred  years.  .  .  .  Old  William 
might  have  said  that  Parsons  had  contended  for  him  and 
•different  parishes  had  claimed  the  honour  of  his  nativity. 
.  .  .  Old  Marshall  has  been  claimed  as  a  native  of  two 
different  parishes.  One  clergyman,  willing  to  do  his 
parish  all  possible  honour,  took  advantage  of  Marshall's 
being  accidentally  in  his  neighbourhood,  and  popped 
him  down  in  his  Account.  When  the  minister  of  the 
parish  to  which  William  truly  belonged  came  to  give  in 
his  Account  to  the. compiler  he  found  it  necessary  to 
reclaim  the  waif.  I  am  not  sure,  however,  that  any 
personal  contention  took  place  between  the  two  clergy- 
men on  account  of  Mr  ^Marshall." 


24  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

And  again  Heron  disposes  of  the  question 
thus  :  — 

"  Later  and  more  curious  encjuiry  has,  however,  evinced 
that  Egypt  has  no  better  claim  to  be  considered  as  the 
parent  country  of  the  Gypsies  than  Crossmichael  to  be 
regarded  as  the  native  parish  of  old  William  Marshall." 

Other  references  might  be  made,  but  these,  it 
is  thought,  are  merely  quotations  from  one  or 
other  of  the  authorities  already  quoted.  Now, 
it  will  be  observed  that  the  Accounts  for 
Minnigaff  and  Crossmichnel  above  quoted  do 
not  bear  out — as  alleged  by  Heron — that  these 
parishes  claimed  to  be  his  birthplace,  but  it 
should  be  noted  that  Heron  made  his  tour 
through  Galloway  in  the  autumn  of  1792,  that 
is  to  say,  just  about  three  months  before  Billy 
died,  and  may  have  obtained  private  informa- 
tion about  the  claims  of  the  respective  parishes, 
either  then  or  when  helping  Sir  John  Sinclair 
in  compiling  the  Old  Statistical  Account.  At 
this  late  hour  in  the  day  it  is  difficult  to  bring 
any  further  evidence  to  bear  upon  Heron's 
contention.  Even  William  Marshall,  the  present 
"  King "  of  the  Marshall  gang,  is  at  a  loss  to 
throw  light  on  the  matter;  and  in  an  amusing 
letter  recently  received  from  him  by  the  writer 
anent  the  birthplace  of  his  illustrious  ancestor, 
he  hints  that  Kirkcudbright  and  Moniaive  have 
also  somehow  laid  claim  to  the  honour  of  being 


Place  of  Birth.  25 

Billy's  native  place.  He  says — "Just  a  fe\r 
lines  to  let  you  know  that  I  could  not  find  out 
where  my  friend  was  boren,  though  no'  boren  ini 
Kilcoobrie.  As  far  as  I  can  hear  he  was  boren 
in  Mineyhive,  and  no'  Kilcoobrie." 

It  would  seem,  however,  that  the  honour  of 
being  Billy's  birthplace  lies  between  Kirkmichael, 
Ayrshire,  and  Minnigaff,  Kirkcudbrightshire,  but 
rather  than  give  an  opinion  upon  such  conflict- 
ing evidence,  we  prefer  to  content  ourselves 
with  having  recorded  the  pros  and  cons  of  the 
case,  and  to  leave  the  point  undecided  in  the 
hope  that  someone  may  yet  be  able  to  produce 
evidence  making  it  clearer  which  parish  is  Billy's 
birthplace.  It  was  natural  that  any  "howf" 
where  he  happened  to  make  his  headquarters 
for  a  time  should  claim  him  ;  but,  in  the  absence 
of  direct  evidence,  the  tent,  or  a  barn,  when  the 
gang_were_l'  takin'  the  country,"  would  be  more 
likely  to  be  his  birthplace  than  any  village. 

But  whether  or  not  Heron  is  correct  in  his- 
contention  that  Minnigaff  is  Billy's  birthplace, 
it  is  certain  that  Billy  made  Minnigaff  his  head- 
quarters for  a  considerable  portion  of  his  life. 
We  hear  of  him  having  as  his  headquarters  aj 
house,  which  he  owned,  in  old  Minnigaff  Village,  ^^ 
and  a  cottage  in  Bargally  Glen,  both  in  the 
parish  of  Minnigaff. 

The  title  deeds^  show  that  Billy  was  actually 


2  6  The  Tinkhr-Gypsies. 

proprietor  of  that  royal  residence  in  Old  Minni- 
gafif  from  21st  November,  1766,  to  2[.st  March, 
1792.  As  will  be  observed  from  the  illustrations, 
Billy's  signature  to  the  deed  ])urchasing  the 
property  is  written  in  a  b(jld  masterly  hand 
thoroughly  in  keeping  with  his  character,  and 
his  signature  on  the  deed  disposing  of  the 
property — though  somewhat  shaky — is  surely 
not  only  highly  creditable  to  him,  but  unique  as 
a  specimen  signature  of  a  Pictish  King  (?)  and 
Gypsy  Chief  written  in  his  120th  year. 

Billy,  according  to  a  tradition,  for  which 
we  are  indebted  to  Mr  James  G.  Kinna's 
admirable  History  of  the  Parish  of  Minnigaff,^ 
being  unable  to  sign  his  name,  "  conscientious 
scruples  would  not  allow  of  his  making  the  sign 
of  the  cross,  but  a  printed  copy  of  his  name 
^vas  placed  before  him  which  he  imitated  as 
nearly  as  possible."  But  the  reader  may 
nevertheless  ask,  "  Are  these  signatures  genuine, 
and  was  the  later  signature  really  written  during 
Jiiliy's  1 20th  year?"  The  disjcjintt'd  lettfrs  in 
all  the  seven  signatures  adhibited  to  the  two 
deeds  go  to  confirm  the  tradition  that  Billy  had 
copied  from  a  specimen  signature,  and  it  seems 
■'  from  one  of  the  deeds  that  the  signature  has  in 
the  first  instance  been  written  in  [)encil,  and 
that  Billy  has  simply  copied  it  over  in  ink. 
Here  and  there  throughout  the  signature  there 


<         -J 


2  8  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

are  still  distinct  pencil  markings  indicating  that 
Billy  had  simply  filled  in  with  ink  the  signature 
previously  traced  in  pencil.  But,  apart  from 
the  light  which  the  story  about  Billy's 
"  conscientious  scruples "  undoubtedly  throws 
upon  the  adhibition  of  his  signatures,  the 
tradition  must  be  of  some  interest  to  readers  of 
Gypsy  Folk  Lore  : 

The  late  Mr  F.  H.  Groome,  in  the 
introduction  to  his  Gypsy  Folk  Tales,^'^  says — 
"  Du  Cange's  last  passage  is  by  far  the 
most  interesting.  '  Anonymus  de  Passione 
Domini.  And  when  they  arrive  at  the  place, 
the  koinodromos  coming  to  crucify  him,  (S:c.' 
Why  so  interesting  ?  There  does  not  seem 
much  in  that,  my  readers  may  exclaim,  ^^'hy, 
because  there  is  a  widely  spread  superstition 
that  a  gypsy  forged  the  nails  for  the  crucifixion, 
and  that  henceforth  his  race  has  been  accursed 
of  heaven.  ...  It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  Greek 
Archipelago  to  the  Highlands  of  Scotland, 
but  in  the  Gypsy  Lore  Journal  (III.,  1892,  p. 
190)  is  this  brief  unsigned  note  :  '  I  should  be 
pleased  to  know  if  you  have  the  tradition  in  the 
South  of  Scotland  that  the  tinkers  are  descend- 
ants of  the  one  who  made  the  nails  for  the  cross, 
and  are  condemned  to  wander  continually  with- 
out re!-t.'     No  answer  appeared  ;  and  I  know  of 


Superstitions  about  the  Cross.  29 

no  other  hint  of  the  currency  of  this  belief  in 
Western  Europe,  unless  it  be  the  couplet: — 

'  A  whistling  maid  and  a  crowing  hen, 
Are  hateful  alike  to  God  and  men,' 

*  because,'  according  to  Lieut. -Col.  A.  Fergusson 
(Notes  and  Queries,  August,  1879,  p.  93),  though 
he  gives  no  authority,   '  A  woman  stood  by  and  \ 
whistled  while  she  watched   the    nails   for  the 
Cross  being  forged.'  "  ll 

That  the  tradition  about  the  whistling  maid 
also  wields  a  powerful  influence  over  the  super- 
stitious Irish  peasantry  is  evidenced  by  the 
following  quotation  from  a  recent  article"  : — 
"  Morning,  noon,  or  night  that  Mairgread  Kelly 
would  be  going  or  coming  through  the  village 
it  is  either  laughmg  or  whistling  she'd  be,  oftenest 
whistling.  At  that  sound  the  women  would 
/:ross  themselves  and  murmur  one  to  another — ■ 

'  A  whistling  maid  or  a  crowing  hen, 
There's  never  luck  in  the  place  they're  in.'" 

According  to  a  writer  in  the  Gypsy  Lore 
Journal^'-^  the  tradition  about  the  gypsy  forging 
the  nails  for  the  cross  is  also  widespread  amongst 
the  continental  Gypsies. 

In  Gypsy  Folk  Tales,^'  No.  14,  "The  Red 
King  and  the  \\'itch,"  will  be  found  this  further 
confirmation  of  the  superstition  with  which 
Gypsies  regard  the  sign  of  the  cross  :  "His  father 
gave  him  a  couple  of  sacks  of  ducats,  and  he  put 


^^     i^i^N^ 


H 


vCj  \Jjj 


'%. 


i^^  :J  ^1 


Superstitious  about  the  Cross.  ^  i 

them  on  his  horse.  The  lad  went  and  made  a 
hole  on  the  border  of  the  city.  He  made  a 
chest  of  stone  and  put  all  the  money  there,  and 
buried  it.  He  placed  a  stone  cross  above  and 
departed.  And  he  journeyed  eight  days  and 
came  to  the  king  of  all  the  birds  that  fly.  .  .  . 
He  came  where  his  father's  palace  stood,  and 
looked  about  him.  There  was  no  palace,  no 
anything.  And  he  fell  to  marvelling :  '  God, 
Thou  are  mighty.'  He  only  recognised  his 
father's  well,  and  went  to  it.  His  sister,  the 
witch,  when  she  saw  him,  said  to  him,  '  I  have 
waited  long  for  you,  dog.'  She  rushed  at  him 
to  devour  him,  but  he  made  the  si^n  of  the  cross, 
and  slie  perished." 

Another  WTiter  in  the  Gypsy  Lore  Journal^^ 
also  points  out  that  the  Lithuanian  Gypsies 
possess  a  tradition  that  they  steal  under  Divine 
patronage  :  "  Stealing,  they  say,  has  been  per- 
mitted in  their  favour  by  the  crucified  Jesus, 
because  the  Gypsies,  being  present  at  the  cruci- 
fixion, stole  one  of  the  four  nails,  by  the  aid  of 
which  the  Saviour  was  nailed  to  the  cross ;. 
hence  it  is  that,  when  the  hands  had  been 
nailed  fast,  there  was  only  one  nail  left  for  the 
feet,  and  God  allowed  them  to  steal,  and  it  is 
not  accounted  a  sin  to  them." 

In  reviewing  Mr  Andrew  Lang's  Cusioin 
and   Myth  (London,    1885),    in   the  Athtnceunv 


32  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

of  2i!it  February,  1885,  Mr  A\'atts-Dunton, 
then  Mr  Theodore  Watts,  complains  that 
Mr  Lang  had  ignored  altogether  Romani 
customs  and  traditions,  and  states,  among 
other  examples,  that  the  cross  is  the  most 
powerful  of  all  symbols  amongst  the 
Romani  :  "  Tattoed  on  the  breast  of  the  South 
Papuan  women  we  find  the  same  cross  (or 
Sanscrit  irisu/a),  which  the  Romanis  believe  to 
be  the  most  powerful  of  all  symbols — so  power- 
\  ful  that  the  rainbow  will  fade  from  the  sky  'at 
'the  very  sight  of  it.'"^"' 

Then  most  readers  will  remember  the  im- 
portant part  the  trushul  (gypsy,  a  cross)  is 
made  to  play  in  Mr  \Vatts-I)unton's  delightful 
-Gypsy  story,  "  Aylwin,"'^  and  the  superstitious 
awe  with  which  the  Gypsies  of  "  Aylwin  "  re- 
garded it  : 

"A  trushul  V  (queried  Henry  Aylwin).  And 
then  the  Gypsy  heroine,  Mr  Watts- Dunton's 
"  Sinfi  Lovel,"  is  made  to  reply  : 

"  \\'hat  you  call  a  cross.  There's  nothin'  in 
the  world  so  strong  for  cussin'  and  blessin'  as  a 
Irihhul,  unless  the  stars  shinin'  in  the  river  or 
the  hand  in  the  clouds  is  as  strong.  .   .  ." 

In  Aiident  and  Modern  Britons^'  Mr  David 
MacRitchie  abl)' discusses  Billy's  claim  to  be  de- 
scended from  a  family  of  ancient  standing,  and  in 
that  connection  it  is  also  interesting  to  note  that, 


The  "  Marshall  Mark."  35 

in  the  various  Marshall  arms  registered  in  the 
Lyon  Office  at  Edinburgh,  the  Saltire — i.e.,  the 
St.  Andrew's  Cross — appears  as  the  principal 
charge.''* 

There  is  also  this  further  tradition,'**  among 
the    present    gang    of    Marshalls,    relating    to 
the   sign    of  the   cross  :    Dr   M'Kie,    Newton- 
Stewart — when   attending   a  little    boy,  one  of 
the     descendants     of     Billy     Marshall — asked 
the    boy    if    he    was    a     descendant    of    old 
Billy,  and  the  boy's  mother  at  once  said,  "  Oh, 
ay,  he's   a   real    Marshall ;   he's    even   got   the 
'  Marshall  mark.'  "     "  What's  that  ?"  asked  the 
Doctor.     Thereupon    she  drew   the    little    boy 
forward   and   showed    the    Doctor    the   deeply 
indented  mark  of  an  X  upon  the  boy's  hand. 
The  sceptical  will  no  doubt  say,   "  Many  a  one 
has  a  similar  marking  on  his  hand,"  but  have 
they  ever  heard  of  any  one  in  humble  circum- 
stances who  had  a  similar  tradition  about  the 
lines   on  the    palm  of  his   hand  ?      It  would, 
therefore,    have    been    highly    appropriate   for 
Billy  to   have  used  the   sign   of  the  cross    in 
place  of  a  signature,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact^ 
Billy  has  actually  carved  with  his  own  hands  an 
X  between  his  initials  on  the  horn  mug  after- 
wards alluded  to  ;  and  the  only  explanation  for 

*  Such  letters  refer  to  a  list,  of  authorities  for  traditions,  which 
will  be  found  in  the  appendix. 


Boy  d  Hano,  shjwing  "  Marshall^Mark  ' 

I'holoby  J.  I'.  Millies. 
jPublislie  1  liy  kinil  p^jriiiisBion  of  Mrs  Alexander  Marshall,  Tinkli-r,  (ialloway.) 


Aversion  to  Sigiiifig  by  an  X.  35 

his  declining  to  sign  by  a  cross  must  lie  in  the      f 
fact  that  the  Gypsies  as  a  class  are  most  super- 
stitious, and  Billy,  as  will  afterwards  be  shown, 
was  a  victim  to  superstitious  fears. 

Bearing  in  mind  that  the  Marshalls  one  and 
all  avow  themselves  to  be  Protestants,  and  that 
the  "  Marshall  mark "  cannot  therefore  be 
regarded  as  a  Roman  Catholic  holy  symbol, 
may  not,  therefore,  these  two  traditions — about 
Billy's  superstitious  aversion  to  signing  by  an  X, 
and  of  a  descendant  possessing  the  "  Marshall 
mark  " — form  a  belated  though  somewhat 
indirect  answer  to  the  query  contained  in  the 
late  Mr  Groome's  quotation  from  The  Gypsy 
Lore  Journal  ? 

The  genuineness  of  Billy's  signature  is 
proved  by  all  the  requirements  of  the  law 
of  Scotland,  the  signing,  of  each  document, 
has  been  duly  witnessed  by  two  witnesses — the 
WMtnesses  to  the  one  deed  being  the  steward  and 
the  servant  of  Patrick  Heron  of  Heron,  the 
superior  of  the  ground  whereon  the  house  stood, 
and  to  the  other  deed  a  merchant  and  a  school- 
master. 

Then,  as  to  Billy's  age.  it  will  be  more  con- 
venient, when  all  these  excerpts  are  fresh  in 
mind,  to  discuss  this  vexed  question. 

The  obituary  notice,  already  quoted,  in  The 
Scots    Magazine^  at    the   time    of  Billy's  death 


36  The  Tnikler-Gypsies. 

stated  his  age  at  120,  and  the  age  given  therein 
is  also  corroborated  by  the  following  obituary 
notice  which  appeared  in  The  New  Annual 
Register^^  immediately  after  Billy's  death  :— 

NEW  ANNUAL  REGISTER,  1792,  No.  34,  part  2, 
p.  47. 
"Died,  28th.  (Nov.,  1792).  At  Kirkcudl)right,  Scot- 
land, at  the  great  age  of  120,  William  Marshall,  linker. 
This  miracle  of  longevity  retained  liis  senses  almost  to 
the  last  hour  of  his  life.  He  remembered  distinctly  to 
have  seen  King  William's  Fleet,  when  on  their  way  to- 
Ireland,  riding  at  anchor  in  the  Sol  way  Firth  close  by 
the  bay  of  Kirkcudbright,  and  the  transports  lying  in  the 
harbour.  He  was  present  at  the  siege  of  Derry,  where, 
having  lost  his  uncle,  who  commanded  a  King's  frigate, 
he  returned  home,  enlisted  in  the  Dutch  service,  went  to 
Holland  and  soon  after  deserted,  and  came  back  to  his^ 
native  country.  Naturally  of  a  wandering  and  unsettled 
turn  of  mind,  he  could  never  remain  long  in  any 
particular  place.  Hence  he  took  up  the  occupation  of  a 
tinker,  headed  a  body  of  lawless  banditti,  and  frequently 
traversed  the  kingdom  from  one  end  to  the  other.  But 
it  is  to  be  observed  to  his  credit  that  of  all  the  thieving 
wandering  geniuses  who,  during  the  weakness  of  the 
established  government,  led  forth  their  various  gangs  to 
plunder  and  to  alarm  the  country,  he  was  far  the  most 
honourable  in  his  profession." 

But  there  are  even  more  reliable  evidences 
than  those  of  obituary  notices  published  at  a 
time  when  it  was  out  of  the  question  to  trouble 
enquiring  for  confirmation  of  such  communica- 
tions when  forwarded  from  a  distance  ; 

The  Selkirk  family,  who  helped  in  many  ways 
to  make  Billy's  burden  lighter  for  him  in  his  old 


Remarkable  Loni^evity.  37 

age,  do  not  appear  to  have  doubted  that  Billy 
was  as  old  as  he  professed  to  be.  In  October, 
1905,  an  old  box — belonging  to  the  Selkirk 
family — which  had  remained  sealed  for  a  great 
many  years,  was  opened,  and  amongst  other 
interesting  relics  handed  over  by  Captain  Hope 
of  St.  Mary's  Isle,  Kirkcudbright,  to  Mr  John 
McKie,  R.N.,  then  Honorary  Curator  of  the 
Stewartry  Museum,  Kirkcudbright,  were  the 
horn  mug  and  spoon,  which  had  been  pre- 
sented by  Billy  and  his  son  to  Dunbar,  Earl  of 
Selkirk.  Thanks  to  the  above  disinterested  act 
•on  the  part  of  Captain  Hope  and  to  the  kind 
permission  granted  by  the  Honorary  Curator  of 
the  Stewartry  Museum,  we  are  pleased  to  be 
able  to  reproduce  a  photo  of  these  very  interest- 
ing relics.  The  description  embodied  in  the 
photo  is  taken  from  the  original  labels  found 
attached  to  the  mug  and  spoon,  and  it  will  be 
noted  that  Billy  has  actually  carved  on  the  mug 
his  own  initials,  a  cross  and  the  year  of  carving ; 
and  on  the  other  side  his  age,  "  115,"  has  also 
been  carved  by  him: — "W  x  M  115,  1788." 
Since  Billy  carved  that  X  between  his  initials 
the  question  naturally  arises  did  he,  in  this 
particular  instance,  have  recourse  to  a  com- 
promise by  combining  his  initials  with  the 
''  Marshall  mark,"  or  did  a  perception  of  the 
distinction    between    signing  by    a    cross    and 


to  l.y  T.  II.  I!;.nl;i.v. 


Remarkable  Longevity.  39 

carving  a  cross  suffice  to  allay  his  supposed 
conscientious  scruples  and  superstitious  fears  as 
to  using  the  sign  of  the  cross  ? 

If,  however,  it  was  to  Billy's  interest  to  be 
regarded  as  a  miracle  of  longevity,  then  some 
may  be  inclined  to  doubt  his  credibility.  That 
Billy's  family  are  a  long-lived  race  is  further 
supported  by  the  writing  on  his  tombstone  in 
Kirkcudbright  Churchyard,  and  by  the  statement  ' 
that  one  of  his  sons  "  lived  to  be  over  100 
years  old."  But  perhaps  the  best  proof  of  all 
will  be  found  in  the  recorded  evidence^of  Mr 
James  Murray  M'CuUoch,  of  Ardwall,  who  had 
actually  met  and  conversed  with  Billy — con- 
tained in  his  interesting  and  instructive  letter 
above  referred  to.  That  letter  shows  that  Billy's 
great  age  was  never  disputed  to  the  extent  of 
more  than  "  three  or  four  years,''  and  that  the 
"  oldest  people "  in  the  country  allowed  the 
account  to  be  correct.  Mr  M'Culloch  states 
that  Billy's  own  account  was  that  he  was  "born 
in  or  about  the  year  1666,  but  that  he  might 
have  been  mistaken  as  to  the  exact  year  of  his 
birth,"  but  as  he  undoubtedly  died  in  1792, 
and  as  it  is  claimed  that  he  was  then  120,  he 
must  have  been  born  in  1672  or  1673.  So  it 
would  appear,  in  stating  his  age  at  120,  that  the 
"  three  or  four  years  "  which  may  have  been 
disputed    have    already    been    deducted.      The 


40  The  Tinkler-Gxpsies. 

carving  upon  the  mug  also  indicates  that  Billy 
himself  must,  notwithstanding  Mr  M'Culloch's 
statement,  have  understood  he  was  born  either 
in  the  end  of  1672  or  in  the  beginning  of  1673. 
In  addition  to  Mr  M'Culloch's  own  testimony, 
and  his  record  of  the  opinions  in  regard  to 
Billy's  great  age  held  by  the  "  oldest  people  "  in 
the  country,  we  have,  in  the  letter  above  quoted, 
this  more  particular  and  convincing,  although 
.also  second-hand  comparison  of  the  ages  of 
Billy  Marshall  and  Mr  M'Culloch's  great-grand- 
■mother,  Mrs  M'Culloch  of  Kirkclaugh,  corro- 
borating the  view  that  Billy  must  have  been 
about  120  years  of  age  at  his  death:  "The 
great-grandmother  of  the  writer  (Mr  M'Culloch) 
of  this  article  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  104  ; 
her  age  was  correctly  known.  She  said  Wull 
Marshall  was  a  man  when  she  was  a  bit  callant 
(provincially  in  Galloway,  a  young  girl).  She 
had  no  doubt  as  to  his  being  fifteen  or  sixteen 
years  older  than  herself,  and  he  survived  her 
several  years."  Further  corroboration  may  also 
be  had  from  The  Life  of  James  Allan  ( 1 8 18),-"  and 
MacTaggart's  Gallovidian  Encyclopedia  (1824),^' 
and  Sir  WaHer  Scott's  Guy  Ma7ineringi^- 

To  sum  up  then — That  Billy  lived  till  he  was 
ah.  ut  the  age  of  120  is  borne  testimony  to  by 
(1)  The  Scots  Magazine  ;  (2)  The  Neiv  Annual 
Jieiiister  in   their  re^])ective  issues   immediately 


Proofs  of  Billy's  Longevity.  41 

^fter   Billy's   death  ;    (3)     The    Old  Statistical 
Account  for  Crossmichael,  Minnigaff,  and  Kirk- 
cudbright   Parishes — the    reports    alluding    to 
Billy's  longevity  being  in  all  likelihood  written 
by  ministers  who  would  know   Billy  ;  (4)    The 
New   statistical  Account    (1845)    for  Minnigaff 
Parish  ;    (5)  Robert  Heron,  author  of  Heron's 
Tours  (Autumn  of  1792) ;  (6)  Mr  James  Murray 
M'Culloch  of  Ardwall,  who  had  conversed  with 
Billy,   as   will   be   seen    from   the  letter   above 
■quoted,  three  years  before   the  date  of  Billy's 
■death  ;  (7)  Billy's  own   carving  upon  the  horn  ~| 
mug,  presented  by  him  to  the  Earl  of  Selkirk    I 
<1788)  ;    (8)  Life  of  James  Allan  (1818)  ;    (9) 
MacTaggart's  Gallovidian  Encyclopcedia  (1824);  \^ 
■(10)  Sir  Walter  Scott's    Guy  Mannering ;  and 
■(11)    The    Epitaph    on    Billy's    Tombstone   in 
Kirkcudbright  Churchyard.     Is  it  not  amazing 
that  there  should  remain  such  a  formidable  list 
of  corroboratory  authorities,  and  yet  even  these 
may  fail  to  satisfy  the  hypercritical  who,  none 
the  less,  may  quite  readily  swallow  every  tradi- 
tion that  has  been    handed   down    accrediting 
Billy    with    immorality,    rapine,    and    murder  !   j 
But  how  many  of  those,  of  the  men  of  Billy's 
■day,  who  had  no  notion  of  becoming  famous 
in  the  days   to   come,  have    left    such  a  mass 
of  artlessly  corroboratory  evidence  as  to  their 
respective  ages  ? 


CHAPTER   II. 


"  With  Gypsy  gangs,  in  dales  and  dells, 
In  woods  and  caves,  on  moors  and  fells, 
Bedecked  with  bonny  heather  bells, 

Where  te-wits  flew, 
A  caird  I  ken,  who  often  tells 
What  lilts  he  blew." 

From  Verses  on  Jainus  Allan. 

.^^^^  ILLY  MARSHALL  had  a  daughter 
J^  named  Jean,  who  was  married  to 
^?  James  Allan,  the  celebrated  North- 
umberland Piper,  and  the  above 
verse,  taken  from  a  poem  written 
about  him,  gives  a  very  exact  des- 
cription of  the  homes  and  haunts  of  our  herO' 
Billy  Marshall,  who  was  sometimes  known  as 
the  Cairtl  of  Harullion.  But  for  Billy's  appre- 
ciation of  good  music  and  Allan's  uncommon 
dexterity  in  "  shivering  the  back-lill,"  *  Billy's 
Royal  assent  to  the  marriage  might  not  have 
been  obtained.  The  following  is  the  account 
of  the  presentation  by  Princess  Jean,  of  her  con- 
sort, to  the  King  of  the  Galloway  Gypsies '■^■'  : — 

"  They  (James  Allan  and  Jean)  soon  arrived, 
at  a  hovel  near  Carrick,  where  they    found  Will 

■   See  Ndtc  I.  in  A)iiieiiili\. 


Billy  s  Homes,  Hauiils,  and  Avocations.    43 

Marshall  and  some  of  his  gang.  He  received- 
Allan's  companion  with  a  hearty  welcome,  en- 
quiring what  success  had  attended  her  journey 
and  what  places  she  had  visited  ;  to  all  of  which 
questions  she  gave  the  most  satisfactory  answers. 
At  length,  viewing  Allan  with  particular  atten- 
tion. Will  said — 'But  wha's  that  wi'  ye,  Jean?' 
She  replied — '  My  husband  ;  we  were  lawfully 
pledged  in  presence  of  a  lowland  tribe.'  '  Weel, 
weel,  lass,  but  what  can  the  callan  do?'  '  He 
can  play  fou  weel  on  the  sma'  pipes,'  replied  the 
nymph. 

"  Will  rubbed  his  left  elbow  with  his  right 
hand,  as  was  his  custom  when  pleased,  and  said, 
'  Gi'en  that  be  leel,  ye  hae  made  a  braw  bargain  ',. 
but  let's  hae  a  swatch  o'  his  skill.'  Jean  then 
requested  Allan  to  play  '  Felton  Lonen,'  her 
favourite  tune  ;  knowing  he  was  in  the  presence 
of  Royalty,  James  exerted  his  utmost  skill,  but 
before  the  tune  was  half-finished,  ^^'ill  rose  from 
his  seat,  and,  shaking  Allan  by  the  hand,  said — 
'  Ye're  weel  worth  your  room  ;  nae  music  pleases 
me  but  the  pipes  :  Tam  Fairbairn  could  maist 
hae  made  them  speak,  but,  puir  chiel,  he  lost 
his  spunk  wi'  mony  main' '" 

The  homes  and  haunts  ot  Billy  are  situated 
in  a  district  famed  for  its  romantic  beauty  and 
savage  grandeur.  For  a  freedom-loving  people,, 
the    Galloway    of    those     days     held     special 


44  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

attractions.  There  were  then  no  railway 
communications,  and  so  commodities  and  infor- 
mation took  a  long  time  in  transit.  That  made 
■Galloway,  isolated  as  it  was,  admirably  suited 
-alike  for  doing  legitimate  business  and  for 
pursuing  a  nefarious^  calling.  Where  in  all  Scot- 
land could  a  more  suitable  district  be  found  ? 
Wher>e  in  all  Scotland  could  Billy  have  found 
three  more  beautiful  spots  for  his  dwelling-place 
than  those  at  Old  Minnigaff,  Palnure,  and 
Cairnsmore  ? 

There  is  living  in  Kirkcudbright  an  old 
gentleman  whose  grandmother  knew  Billy 
Marshall  well,  and  who  has  often  heard  his 
^grannie  speaking  highly  of  Billy,  and  here  is 
how  he  sums  up  Billy's  avocations  : — "  Billy  was 
no  tinker  in  the  modern  sense.  He  was  a 
^.  homer  and  handicraftsman.  But  the  tinworker 
,  was  in  Billy's  day  not  so  much  in  vogue. 
These  were  the  guid  aul'  days  of  water  stoups, 
horn  suoons,  and  porridge  noggies — and  that 
Avas  the  case  long  after  Billy's  day.  Billy  made 
such  things,  and  also  wrought  in  metals — • 
making  smoothing-irons,  etc.,  and  was  probably 
a  locksmith — and  hence  it  was  that  the  Hammer- 
men admitted  him  to  membership  of  the  Master 
Craft  and  took  the  part  they  did  at  his  funeral.'"" 
Billy's  ordinary  avocations  sufficed  as  a  mask  to 
enable  him  and    his    numerous    gang  to  move 


Billy s  Homes  and  Haunts.  45 

about  over  all  parts  of  the  district  without  excit- 
ing suspicion,  and  at  the  same  time  to  attend  to 
the  more  lucrative  departments  of  their  calling. 

At  the  time  in  question  Gallovidians  were 
still  bearing  a  grudge  for  the  treatment  meted 
out  to  them  in  Covenanting  times  and  many  of 
them  were  ever  on  the  alert  to  take  up  arms,  as 
in  the  rebellion  of  17 15  and  1745,  and  they 
looked  upon  smuggling  as  quite  a  legitimate 
way  of  settling  old  scores.  A  weak  government 
and  an  impotent  arm  of  the  law  made  Galloway 
and  Ayrshire  an  ideal  country  for  such  a  band 
to  operate  in.  In  fact,  in  many  districts 
Gypsies  were  actually  employed  as  constables, 
and  the  writer  has  learned  of  one  such  case  in 
Galloway.  Billy  Marshall,  however,  without 
even  obtaining  such  an  appointment,  acted  as 
chief  constable  from  Ayr  to  Dumfries,  and  his 
gang  of  ruthless  desperadoes  policed  the  district, 
the  whole  gang  exacting  blackmail,  chiefly  in 
the  shape  of  food  for  themselves  and  fodder  and' 
bedding  for  their  horses,  and  billeting  them- 
selves wherever  they  pleased.  Woe  betide  the 
man  who  dared  to  say  them  nay  !     Formerly, 

"  'Twixt  Wigtown  and  the  town  of  Air, 
Portpatrick  and  the  Cruives  o'  Ctee, 
No  man  need  think  for  to  bide  there, 
Unless  he  court  Saint  Kennedie." 

But  then,  from   the  Brig-en'  o'  Dumfries   to  the  V 
braes  o'  Glenapp,  Billy  Marshall  lorded  it  over     , 


46  The  Tiiikkr-Gypsies. 

rich  and  poor.  The  gentry,  however,  naturally 
received  most  of  Billy's  awkward  patronage,  for 
it  was  one  of  Billy's  traits  of  character  never  to 
molest  or  wrong  the  poor.  The  old  gentleman 
above  referred  to,  whose  grannie  knew  Billy 
well,  says  that  she  held  Billy  in  very  high  regard 
and  resented  any  suggestion  that  he  was  a 
common  tinker — in  the  latter-day  sense — or  any 
reflections  upon  his  character.  She  held  that 
he  was  far  above  the  average  for  honesty  and 
respectability,  and  so,  it  would  seem,  he  can 
have  been  no  common  or  indiscriminating  thief 
or  footpad. 

Billy  showed  much  tact  in  choosing  the  cen- 
tres from  which  he  operated.  Minnigaff  Village 
had  many  admirable  qualities  to  recommend  it 
to  him.  Being  situated  just  between  the  flat 
lands  surrounding  Wigtown  Bay  and  the  Minni- 
gaff hills,  a  speedy  retreat  could  readily  be 
effected  to  his  mountain  fastnesses.  It  was  also 
a  place  much  freijuentcd  by  smugglers,  with 
whom  Billy  conducted  a  profitable  trade  in 
aiding  und  abetting  them  in  their  nefarious  call- 
ing ;  and  occasionally  in  levying  blackmail  upon 
even  the  smugglers  themselves.  In  The  Book 
of  Galloway,  77.^5 -^  (published  1882),  M'Kerlie, 
in  his  imaginary  tour,  points  out  that  the 
inhabitants  of  Minnigaff  were  so  much  ad- 
dicted   to   smuggling    that     even    their   houses 


Bil/ys   Gang.  47 

-were  deafened  to  conceal  smuggling  operations. 
M'Kerlie   asked  a  mason  why  they   used    this 
miserable    substitute    for    lime,    to    which    he 
replied,    "  We    like    oor   hooses  weel  deafened 
here   (to  conceal   smuggling  operations)  ;  even 
the  quality  are  trying   half-baked    clay  instead 
■0'  fog."       In  addition    to    these    qualifications, 
Minnigaff  Village    was    also   admirably    suited 
on    account  of  its  being  the  principal    market 
town  in  Galloway,  which  circumstance  afforded  _^ 
Billy   and    his   gang — particularly   the    women 
folks — a    fine    chance    for    attending    to    the 
"cutpurse"  department  of  their  calling.     One. 
can    fancy    Billy    sitting    in    his    old    thatched  | 
dwelling  as  the  receiver  of  stolen  goods.      An 
old  residenter  said  his  house  in  Old  Minnigaff  ■' 
had  been  described  to  her  as  "  a  rum   aul'  den,  '. 
a'  hung  roun'  wi'  tipps'  horns.""'     No  foe  dare  li 
venture  in,  but  if  a  friend  should  have   lost  his 
purse  or  pocket-book  in  the  market,  Billy  could 
produce,  from  a  safe  hiding  place,  a  large  assort- 
ment to  enable  him  to  pick  out  his  own. 

There  is  a  place — just  at  the  corner  of  the 
wood  at  Thorneybrae,  Minnigaff^ — which  still 
goes  under  the  name  of  "  The  Tinklers'  Loop." 
Although  being  now  enclosed  with  a  dyke,  and 
no  longer  used  as  an  encampment,  in  olden  times 
large  companies  of  Billy's  gang  were  wont  to  / 
assemble  there.     A  daughter  of  Billy  Marshall 


48  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

by  his  last  wife  was  married  to  one  Philip   Phie^ 
a   woodman,    and   ihey    lived    at  Thorneybrae 
Cottage.     It  is  said  by  one  whom  the  present 
William  Marshall  would  term  "  an  aul'  desiden- 
ter  "  (residenter)  that    there    was  a  time  when 
every    second    tumbril    or    cart    that     went    up 
Minnigaff  belonged  to  one  of  the  Marshall  gang. 
It  appears,  however,  that  our  hero,  when   going 
on  a  tour  through  his  domains,  seldom   left  Old 
Mmnigaff  with  more  than  one  or  two  followers  ; 
but  if  any  one  happened  to  meet  him  amongst 
the  hills  the  next  day,  the  gang  then  consisted 
of  large  numbers  of  men,  women,  and  children. 
A  descendant  of  a  farmer  —  Mr  Carter,  the  Slack. 
— -who  used  to  have  frequent  visits  of  Billy  and 
his  gang,  says  that   there    were    usually   about 
thirty  men  in  his  gang,  and  a  large  number  of 
women  and  children  besides.      On  one  of  these 
visits,  Mr  Carter  happened  to  be  behind  with  his 
harvest,  and  the  whole  gang  turned  in  and  soon 
finished  the  work.     They  never  dreamed  of  ask- 
ing for  pay  ;  but,  of  course,  the  big  set-pot  had 
to  be  filled—^  v^^^^  ^^  -^■ 

"  To  set  their  gabs  a-sleerin'  O." 

^Vhen  asked  if  they  never  stole  anything  from 
the  farm,  the  writer's  informant  replied,  "  Not 
they  ;  they  were  like  the  craws — they  aye  gaed. 
awa'  frae  their  nests  to  steal."'' 


Billys  Homes  and  Haunts.  49 

The  dogs  which  usually  accompanied  the 
gang  were  of  a  half-mastiff,  half-lurcher  breed, 
and  Mr  Carter  says  they  had  the  reputation  of 
being  uncommonly  wise,  and  had  the  useful 
quality  of  being  able  to  convey  an  alarm  to 
their  masters  without  barking. 

A  heap  of  stones  is  all  that  now  marks  the 
site  of  Billy's  dwelling-place  in  Palnure  Glen. 
It  should  be  noted  that  many  of  Billy's  deeds 
of  derring-do  happened  in  places  far  from  the 
present  public  roads,  but  on  closer  enquiry  it 
will  almost  invariably  be  found  that  an  old  coach 
or  military  road  used  to  run  close  to  the  place 
indicated.  Billy's  house  in  Palnure  Glen,  for 
example,  was  situated  a  considerable  distance 
from  the  new  public  road,  and  yet  the  old  road 
ran  close  by  it.  The  site  of  that  place  of  abode 
will  be  found  about  300  yards  above  the  falls  on 
the  Mill  Burn  near  Bardrochwood.  It  is  said 
that  this  particular  rendezvous,  besides  being  a 
place  of  comparative  safety,  owing  to  its  prox- 
imity to  Cairnsmore  and  Craignelder,  enabled 
Billy  to  do  a  good  trade  in  distilling  whisky. 

Tradition  has  it  that  when  dyking  operations 
were  renewed  on  Cairnsmore — not  commenced 
there,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  famous 
"  Deil's  Dyke  "  runs  across  Cairnsmore — Billy 
succeeded  in  killing  two  birds  with  one  stone. 
The  laird  was  greatly  annoyed  at  the  slow  pro- 

4 


50  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

gress  made  in  h,iikling  the  dykes,  and  eventually, 
on  that  accouiit,  dismissed  the  dykers  ;  but  it 
was  shrewdly  suspected  that  Billy  not  only  did 
a  roarint(  trade  in  supplying  the  dykers  with 
whisky  made  at  his  "  still  "  on  the  Stell  Brae  on 
Cairnsmore,  but  also — in  pursuince  of  his 
"  levelling "  propensities,  and  in  case  a  ready 
market  should  be  removed  from  the  neighbour- 
hood— kept  knocking  over  each  night  a  bit  of 
the  dyke  which  the  men  had  built  on  the  pre 
vious  day."  Such  may  have  been  the  real 
inception  of  the  great  rebellion  by  farmers, 
crofters,  Gypsies,  and  labourers  against  the 
proprietors,  for  fencing  and  annexing  fields 
moorlands,  and  commonties,  and  demolishing 
old  houses,  and  which  innovations  "  The 
Levellers '"  considered  to  be  a  blow  calculated 
to  prevent  many  from  earning  a  livelihood. 

Oil  Cairnsmore  Billy  may  have  learned  to  use 
the  ''  kent  "  stick  to  the  greatest  advantage  in 
knocking  over  a  dyke.  It  appears  that  each 
leveller  "  was  furnished  with  a  strong  kent  (or 
piece  of  wood)  from  six  to  eight  feet  in  length, 
which  he  fixed  into  the  dyke  at  the  approved 
distance  from  the  foundation  and  from  his 
neighbour.  lAfter  having  ascertained  that  all 
was  ready,  the  captain  bawled  out  '  Ow'r  wi't, 
boys,'  and  'ow'r'  accordingly  it  tumbled  with  a 
shout  that  might  have  been  heard  at  the  distance 


Billy  leads  the  Levellers.  5  1 

of  miles."'-'''  Billy's  experience  thus  gained  may 
have  secured  for  him  the  leadership  of  the  level- 
lers. Sir  Herbert  Maxwell,  Bart,  M.P.,  in  his 
Historv  of  Dumfries  and  Gallowa\\^^  says  : — 
"  The  ringleader  of  these  levellers  was  the  cele- 
brated Billy  Marshall,  of  the  blood  royal  of  the 
Gypsies,  who  desertei  from  the  Royal  Regiment 
of  Dragoons  (the  Scots  Greys),  when  serving 
under  Marlborough  in  Flanders,"  and  the  author  J 
of  the  Memoir  of  Joseph  Train '"'  thus  refers 
lo  Billy's  leadership  of  the  levellers  : — "  Another 
worthy.  Train  mention,^,  namely,  Willie  Marshall, 
the  King  of  the  Randies,  who  encouraged  the 
insubordination  of  the  peasantry  of  Galloway 
in  their  last  ebullition  of  discontent.  This  hap- 
pened in  1724,  and  their  attack  was  principally 
-directed  against  the  King's  fences.  In  this  they 
were  led  by  Marshall,  who,  despising  all  rule 
and  authority,  was  a  proper  [)erson  to  direct  the 
movements  of  the  rebellious  peasantry.  The 
summer  fair  of  Keltonhill  was  at  that  time  the 
most  general  rendezvous  in  the  south  west  of 
Scotland  for  the  transaction  of  business.  Among 
others,  delegates  from  all  the  parishes  in  the 
Stewartry  of  Kirkcudbright  met  for  the  purpose 
of  concerting  measures  for  the  levelling  of  all 
the  '  ring  fences  '  in  the  country.  Over  these 
presided  the  King  of  the  Randies.  Before  the 
period  mentioned,  he  had  been   frequently  sent 


52  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

to  the  army,  and  had  served  several  campaigns 
in  Flanders  ;  but  he  always  deserted  in  time  to 
reach  Keltonhill  Fair,  which,  it  is  said,  he 
attended  regularly  for  above  a  hundred  years, 
without  being  once  absent. 

"The  levellers  found  in  him  an  active  leader, 
and  under  his  directions  they  conducted  their 
operations  with  such  secrecy,  that  every  stone 
which  was  laid  above  another  for  the  formation 
of  a  ring  fence  during  the  day,  between  Thigger 
Law  and  Shambelly,  was  thrown  down  in  the 
night,  without  a  single  person  concerned  therein 
being  discovered  either  by  the  landholders  or 
their  agents.  The  levellers  became  at  length 
more  daring.     They   practised  the  use  of  fire- 

i^arms  on  the  hills  by  the  light  of  the  moon, 
formed  themselves  into  companies,  and  openly 
res'sted  every  attem{)t  on  the  part  of  the  pro- 
prietors to  enclose  their  land.  Many  witty 
sayings  are  related  of  Marshall.  He  was,  like 
the  rest  of  his  fraternity,  greatly  addicted  to 
whisky,  which  some  individual  in  his  hearing 
denounced  as  slow  poison.  '  It  maun  be  d — d 
slow,  for  I  ha'e  drunk  it  for  a  hunner  years,  an' 

,J'm  livin'  yet.' 

"  It  was  found  necessary  to  march  a  regiment 
of  dragoons  from  Edinburgh  to  restore  tran- 
quility to  the  country.  Marshall  himself  was 
taken  prisoner,  but  escaped  by  the  assistance  of 


Billy  leads  the  Levellers.  53 

his  intimate  friend,  Edie  Ochiltree,  or  Andrew  ' 
Gemmil,  then  a  private  soldier  in  the  regiment 
of  Black  Horse." 

An  account  of  the  actions  of  the  levellers 
will  be  found  in  the  second  volume,  p.  393, 
et  seq  of  Rev.  W.  Mackenzie's  (Nicholson's) 
History  of  Galloivay^  and  those  who  wish  more 
elaborate  information  upon  that  subject  can 
turn  with  profit  to  Mr  Crockett's  Dark  d  the 
Aioon  and  Mr  Armstrong's  The  Levellers.  It 
was  due  to  the  astuteness  of  Mr  Heron  of 
Kirroughtree  that  this  local  rebellion  fizzled 
out,  and  here  is  how  that  satisfactory  termina- 
tion was  effected  : — "  The  levellers  likewise 
exhibited  much  courage  and  coolness.  On 
their  route  from  Kirkcudbright,  through  the 
parish  of  Tongland,  they  knew  that  their 
motions  were  strictly  watched  by  a  party  of 
dragoons,  in  company  with  a  number  of  gentle- 
men whom  the  increasing  danger  had  roused 
into  exertion  and  called  unto  one  pUce.  The 
insurgents  proceeded  along  the  east  side  of  the 
small  river  Tarff,  and  took  up  a  position  on  the 
braes  of  Culquha,  nearly  opposite  to  Barcaple, 
where  the  military  were  stationed.  The  levellers 
having  held  a  consultation,  arranged  themselves 
in  order  of  battle,  and  seemed  prepared  to 
make  a  desperate  stand.  The  counsels  of  their 
opponents   were   divided  ;  some  proposed  that 


54  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

they  should  immediately  cro'^s  the  river  and 
attack  ihe  insurgents,  while  others  wished  to 
spare  the  effusion  of  blood  and  try  the  effect  of 
negotiation.  Mr  Heron,  of  Kiiroughtrce,  who 
had  been  in  the  army,  was  present  with  the 
gentlemen  of  the  district,  and  dissuaded  them 
from  their  rash  design.  He  plainly  informed 
them  that,  from  the  appearance  <  f  ihe  insur- 
gents, he  was  convinced  they  numbered  among 
them  individuals  well  skilled  in  military  affairs  ; 
and  he  entreated  his  friends  not  to  hazard  an 
encounter  which  might  prove  dishonourable  to 
themselves  and  disastrous  to  the  country.  Mr 
Heron's  experience  added  weight  to  his  repre- 
sentations. A  flag  of  truce,  accompanied  by 
several  gentlemen  and  ministers,  repaired  to  the 
position  of  the  outlaws.  This  judicious  step 
produced  the  desired  effect ;  for,  after  some 
fair  promises  had  been  made,  the  country 
people  partially  dispersed,  and  never  agaui 
mustered  in  numbers  so  formidable  and  over- 
bearing. The  last  remains  of  these  deluded 
men  were  defeated  at  Duchrae.  in  the  parish  of 
Ba'maghie.  The  commanding  officer  of  the 
military  party  behaved  on  this  occasion  v  ith 
great  lenity,  and  j  rohibited  his  men  from  using 
their  swords,  unless  in  Felf-  defence.  The 
prisoners,  amounting  to  upwards  of  200  men,  he 
marched  to  Kirkcudbright  :   but  manv  of  them 


Site  of  Billys  Camfing  Ground,  near  Brig  o'  Dee. 
Pl\(ito  t..v  D.  C;ass.  Rhnnehouse. 


56  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

were   allowed    to    make    their    escape    on    the 
road  thither. 

"  Mr  Heron  had  been  right  in  his  conjecture, 
for,  exclusive  of  many  of  the  disbanded  soldiers 
of  inferior  note,  the  ranks  of  the  levellers  were 
dignified  by  the  presence  of  the  celebrated 
Gypsy  chief,  the  redoubted  William  Marshall, 
who  had  been  in  the  army."-''  Surely  no  ordi- 
nary man,  this  Gypsy  chief,  who,  either  electively 
or  by  sufferance,  commanded  the  combined 
forces  of  farmers,  crofters,  cottars,  and  Gypsies  ! 
1  The  Brig  o'  Dee  has  long  been  a  recognised 
abode  of  Tinkler  Marshalls,  but  it  does  not  seem 
quite  clear  that  Billy  actually  possessed  a  house 
of  his  own  there.  Probably,  when  attending 
Keltonhill  Fair,  he  may  occasionally  have  lived 
with  his  relatives  there,  but  it  is  more  likely 
that  he  simply  encamped  on  the  Kelton  side 
of  the  Dee,  near  the  Brig  o'  Dee,  where  the  site 
of  his  camp  is  still  pointed  out.  Its  proximity 
to  Keltonhill,  where  important  fairs  were 
frecjuently  held,  rendered  it  singularly  well 
situated  for  transferring  other  folks'  money  and 
\aluahles  into  the  treasury  of  the  Marshall 
gang.  MacTaggart,  in  his  entertaining  Gallo- 
vidian  Kncyclopiedia  (i824),-''  gives  the  following 
detailed  and  graphic  description  of  Keltoniiill 
Fair,  from  which  one  is  inclined  to  conclude 
that  Mac'l'aggart   had    freciuently  been   present 


Keltonhill  Fair.  57 

at  this  interesting  annual  agricultural  function  : 
— "  Keltonhill  Fair. — This  is  one  of  the  largest 
meetings  or  gatherings  of  Gallovidians  that  are 
to  be  met  with.  This  fair  is  held  on  a  day 
about  Midsummer  every  year,  on  rising  ground 
beside  the  clauchan  of  Rhonehouse,  in  the  parish 
of  Kelton.  At  this  fair  one  is  gratified  with  a 
sight  of  the  peasantry  of  both  Scotland  and 
Ireland  ;  and  here  may  sometimes  be  lifled  a 
tolerable  idea  of  the  Donnybrook  of  Erin  or 
Ballinasloe  ;  at  one  time  in  danger  of  having 
the  skull  bared  with  a  cudgel  :  at  other  times 
hemmed  in,  as  it  were,  with  rowly-puivly  men, 
fling  sticks,  and  siveetie  ivives.  Then  the  ears 
get  charmed  with  the  hoarse  throa's  of  ballad 
singers,  and  not  infrequently  nearly  rode  over 
with  horse  jockies.  And  all  this  humbug  and) 
jostling  combined  form  the  best  of  fun;  one 
gets  del'ghted.  Tennant's  Anster  rather  seems 
flatter  than  the  reality,  though  sometimes  we 
see  with  the  drollish  poet.  \Vhile  the  scenes 
thicken  the  tents  get  crowded  ;  whisky  is 
skilted  over  like  whey  :  bonny  lassies  aie  to  be 
met  with,  who  cling  round  one  like  binwud  : 
and  who  would  not  cling  to  them  in  return, 
sweet  souls  ?  For  an  hour  or  two  of  bustling 
nonsense,  then,  I  know  of  few  places  where  it 
is  to  be  had  in  greater  perfection  than  at 
Keltonhill  Fair." 


58  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Billy's  usual  mode  of  raisicig  a  ruction  at  the 
fair  was  to  send  a  number  of  his  gang  into  a 
drinking  booth,  and  then  from  the  outside  of 
the  tent  pressing  hmiself  under  the  counter  he 
raised  himself  up  and  upset  the  whole  concern  !  ^ 

The  followuig  story  shows  the  modus  opej-andi 
of  the  cutpurse  Gypsies  at  the  fair  :*  "  An  uncle 
of  ours,"  quoth  the  relaters  of  this  tradition, 
"on  our  mother's  side  told  us  that  two  of  their 
forefolks,  Milroys  of  the  Blairs — a  farmer  and 
his  wife — went  to  Keltonhill  Fair  on  one 
occasion.  The  farmer  had  a  horse  to  sell. 
A\'hen  passing  through  the  fair  a  C'Vpsy  woman 
— probably  a  Marshall— came  up  to  her  and 
asked  her  to  hold  her  child  for  a  moment.  She 
consented,  and  suddenly  the  mother  disap- 
peared. As  she  was  long  in  returning,  the 
farmer's  wife  put  the  child  on  her  shoulder  and 
proceeded  to  wend  her  way  through  the  fair  in 
the  hope  of  catching  the  eye  of  the  Gypsy 
woman.  Suddenly  a  man  en  me  rushing  through 
the  crowd,  and  as  he  ran  past  the  farmer's  wife 
he  thrust  something  into  the  breast  of  her 
dress,  which  at  that  time  was  worn  o])en  at  the 
neck.  Next  moment  the  (>>'i)sy  woman  came 
back,  claimed  the  child,  and  disappeared  ere 
the  farmer's  wife  took  aii\-  thought  about  what 

'  But  see  a  somewhat  similar  story  told  by  Dr  John  Hrowri  in 
Unrae  Suhxecicae  under  a  "Jacobite  Ka.nil  v." 


"  Cutpurse  "   Gypsies.  59 

the  Gypsy  man  had  done.  She  found  sticking 
inside  her  dress  her  hushand's  pocket-book 
with  the  price  of  the  horse  which  the  Gypsy 
man  must  have  stolen  from  him  and  had 
intended  to  pa'^s  on  to  the  Gypsy  woman,  but 
the  child  being  on  the  shoulder  of  the  farmer's 
wife  he  (the  Gypsy  man)  had  unconsciously 
restored  the  money  to  its  rightful  owner."  = 

Then  there  remain  to  be  considered  two  other 
resorts  said  to  have  been  frequented  by  Billy, 
viz..  The  Fell  o'  Barullion,  in  the  parish  of 
Mochrum,  Wigtownshire,  and  "  a  large  cave  or 
cavern  in  the  high  grounds  of  Cairnsmore,  in 
Galloway  "'  (the  Stewartry).  Obviously,  both 
places  had  great  advantages  as  retreats  in  case 
of  pursuit,  or  as  places  for  concealing  plunder  ; 
but  Billy  knew  that  those  particular  retreats 
enjoyed  other  advantages.  Billy's  gang  un- 
doubtedly were  deeply  implicated  in  the 
smuggling  trade,  which,  at  that  time,  must  have 
been  regarded  as  an  honourable  department  of 
his  profession,  for  even  the  hands  of  ministers 
were  not  clean  in  that  respect  :  A  story  is  told 
that  somewhere  on  our  coast  a  vessel,  contain- 
ing a  cargo  of  brandy,  had  been  stranded — 
whether  by  fair  or  foul  means  is  not  said — but, 
in  the  bacchanalian  orgie  that  ensued,  a  stranger 
thought  fit  to  intervene.  "  Are  there  no  Revenue 
ofificials    present  ?"     he     ventured     to     in(juire. 


6o  The  Tiiikler-Gypiics. 

"  Thank  gudeness,  there's  nane,"  was  the  laconic 
reply.  "  Then,"  said  he  in  desperation,  "  where's 
the  minister?"  "That's  him,"  was  the  answer, 
and  a  hand  pointed  towards  a  man  in  black 
holding  up  a  torch  to  enable  the  smugglers  to 
broach  another  keg.  In  Sir  H.  E.  Maxwell's 
History  of  Dwiifries  and  Ga/Ioivay,''^'  above 
referred  to,  there  is  an  interesting  account, 
showing  the  great  extent  to  which  smuggling 
was  carried  on  in  this  district,  and  indicating 
that  the  Gypsies  were  instrumental  in  forwarding 
"  run  goods  "  to  their  proper  destination  : — 

"The  Gypsies  were  numerous  in  the  Border 

counties    in    those    days,  and   were  among  the 

most   intrepid    riders   concerned   in   smuggling. 

j  There  were  many  grades  of  them,  from  big  Will 

\  Baillie,  the  chief  (jf  one  sept,  who  marauded  on 

the    romantic   scale    of    Robin    Hojd,    to     the 

.  common   '  tinklers,'    or    '  cairds,'    who    pitched 

their  tents  in   Nithsdale,  and  harbaured  among 

the  Galloway  hills.    Sir  Walter  Scott,  who  never, 

so  far  as  is  known,  was  in   Galloway,*  was  able 

to  make  use  of  information  given  him  by  Joseph 

'IVain,  an   Excise  officer  in  Castle- Dougla'^,  and 

to  describe  truthfully,   in   Gi/y   Afaniicnng,   the 

position  held  by  Gypsies  in  ihe  social  scale. 

*  *  *  -;'r  *  * 

■  sir  Walter  Scolt  jircilmlilv  did  \  isit,  (;allo\va\',  but  see 
Chaplir  HI. 


Tinklers  as  Litigfowineii.  6i 

"  The  contraband  trade  had  become  almost 
as  common  an  investment  for  men  of  capital  as 
any  other  business.  Merchants  fitted  out  well- 
found  vessels  for  smuggling  ;  lairds  and  ministers 
not  only  connived  at  it,  but  put  their  ht  ney 
into  the  venture.  Mr  Carson,  minister  of 
Anwolh,  was  deprived  of  his  living  in  1767, 
because  he  was  proved  to  be  deeply  implicated 
in  the  '  fair  trade.'  "  The  lingtowmen  were  in 
the  habit  of  requisitioning  the  services  of  horses 
belonging  to  crofters.  On  one  occasion  a 
lingtowman  shouted  out  a(ter  the  procession  had 
passed  a  crofter's  house,  "  Did  ye  mind  Grannie 
Milligan's  rum  ?''  Whereupon  a  keg  was  taken 
back,  and  the  door  being  found  to  have  been 
conveniently  left  open,  an  entrance  was  readily 
effected.  A  can  of  water  silting  inside  the 
passage  was  emptied,  and  the  can  was  then 
filled  up  with  rum.  Grannie  Miliigan  unwit- 
tingly made  her  porridge  with  that  rum,  and 
ever  afterwards  avowed  that  no  dish  could  equal 
"  rum  porridge.'"^ 

A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  that  both 
places  were  admirably  suited  for  keeping  an  eye 
upon  all  "  run  goods,"  and  for  headquarters  from 
which  to  essay  when  the  services  of  Billy  and 
his  gang  were  required  to  act  as  "  lingtowmen," 
to  ensure  a  safe  transit.  The  shore  near  Port- 
william  was  a  favourite  place  for  smuggling,  and 


62  The  linkltr  Gypsies. 

is  within  easy  distance  of  the  Fell  o'  Barullion. 
An  old  road  ran  alon^  through  amongst  the 
hil's  nigli  to  Billy's  retreat  on  Cairnsniore,  and 
Avas  also  connected  with  the  military  road  which 
passed  over  "  The  Corse  o'  Slakes,"  one  of  the 
/  Marshall  gang's  favourite  places  for  waylaying  and 
/  robbing  travellers.  The  Corse  is  thus  described 
'  in  MacTaggart's  Gallovidian  Encyclopoidia'''^:  — 
''  Corse  o'  Slakes,  Cross  of  Rocky  H'lls — S'akes, 
in  Saxon,  meaning  rocky  hills  or  rocky  brows. 
In  Galloway  there  are  no  roads  so  wild  as  the 
one  which  leads  over  the  celebrated  pass  of  the 
above  name,  between  Cairnsmoor  and  Cairn- 
hattie ;  it  is  a  perfect  Alpine  pass,  and  was  a 
haunt  of  Billy  Marshill  and  his  gang  in  the  days 
of  yore — even  yet,  it  is  frequently  selected  as  a 
.suitable  station  for  the  bludgeon  tribe." 

Billy  is  believed  to  have  co-operated  with  the 
celebrated  Yawkins,  the  "  Dirk  Hatteraick  "'  of 
Guy  Manneri/^:^'-  In  the  additional  prefatory 
note  to  that  book,  Sir  Walter  says  : — "  The 
Black  Prince  (\'awkins'  smuggling  lugger)  used 
to  discharge  her  cargo  at  Luce,  Balcarry,  and 
elsewhere  on  the  coast :  bat  her  owner's  favourite 
landing  jilaces  were  at  the  entrance  of  tlie  Dee 
and  the  Cree."  In  The  Memoir  of  Joseph  Traifi;^^ 
will  also  be  found  particulars  about  the  illicit 
j  traffic,  Yawkins  and  his  smuggling  lugger,  The 
\  Black  I'rifice.,  antl  of  the  modus  operandi  of  trie 


Tinklers  as  Lingioivnien.  63 

smuggles  :  but  this  interesting  description  of 
the  lingtowmen — who  would  often  be  Gypsies 
— had  better  be  recorded  here  : — 

"The  carriers  from  the  coast  to  the  interior 
Avere  called  lingtowmen,  from  the  coil  of  ropes, 
or  lingtows,  which  they  generally  wore  like  a 
soldier's  shoulder  belt  when  not  employed  in 
slinging  or  carrying  their  goods.  The  fixed 
price  for  carrying  a  box  of  tea,  or  a  bale  of 
tobacco,  from  the  coast  of  Galloway  to  Edin- 
burgh, was  fifteen  shillings  ;  and  a  man  with 
two  horses  could  carry  four  packages.  Two 
hundred  horses  have  been  frequently  laden  in  a 
night  at  Balcarry,  and  at  the  Abbey  Burn-foot 
of  Dundrennan." 

One  of  the  most  famous  of  these  Galloway 
caves  is  that  known  as  "  Dirk  Hatteraick's 
Cave,"  near  Ravenshall,  whereof  the  following 
minute  and  graphic  description  is  contained  in 
Gullotvay  GHinpses^"^  the  new  edition  of  which 
should  be  in  the  hands  of  all  lovers  of  Galloway  : 
■ — "After  resting  ourselves  in  this  delightful 
summer-house,  on  the  top  of  the  moat-hill 
(Ravenshall),  and  surveying  the  extensive  scene 
presented  from  it,  we  descend  and  wander 
down  to  the  sea-beach  in  search  of  the  famous 
cave  of  Dirk  Hatteraick.  The  way  to  it,  east- 
ward, along  the  shore,  is  in  places  difficult  of 
'walking — the  boulders  being  large  and  necessi- 


64  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

tating  careful  footing.  But,  after  a  scramble  of 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  or  so,  we  arrive  at  that  part 
of  the  heuch  which  leads  up  to  the  mouth  of 
the  cave.  It  requires  a  quick  eye,  or  the  guid- 
ing of  some  one  who  has  been  there  before,  to 
discover  the  entrance,  for  it  is  wooded,  and 
hidden  up  on  the  face  of  the  cliff  by  large 
boulders  all  around.  The  ascent  from  the  shore 
to  the  mouth  of  the  cave  is  steep  and  rough, 
and  part  of  it  requires  to  be  climbed  up  on 
hands  and  knees.  Arrived  at  it,  the  entrance  is 
found  to  be  narrow  and  difficult,  the  rock  on 
each  side  forming  something  like  two  sides  of  a 
triangle.  Peering  through  the  opening,  nothing 
can  be  seen  in  the  darkness  which  prevails 
down  in  the  cave.  On  throwing  a  stone  down 
into  it,  one  ascertains  by  the  hollow  sound 
below  that  the  floor  of  the  cave  is  composed  of 
gravel,  and  is  a  considerable  way  down.  After 
squeezing  yourself  through  the  narrow  entrance 
for  a  few  yards,  you  come  to  the  edge  of  a 
precipice.  You  must  then  get  down  on  your 
hands  and  knees,  turn  your  back  to  the  cave, 
hang  on  with  your  fingers  to  the  ledge  of  the 
precipice,  let  yourself  down  all  your  length,  and 
(full  of  faith)  allow  yourself  to  drop  into  dark- 
ness. You  land  several  feet  down,  on  the 
gravelly  bottom  of  which  we  have  spoken. 
Recovering   your   breath   and    equilibrium,  and 


Di7-k  Hatteraick's  Cave.  65 

having  come  prepared  with  matches  and  candle, 
you  strike  a  light,  and  the  spacious  cavern  is 
disclosed  to  view. 

"The  wiiter  recollects  his  first  introduction^ 
very  many  years  ago —to  this  cave.  With  some 
companions,  he  had  sailed  across  from  the 
Wigtownshire  coast.  None  of  the  party  had 
ever  be^n  there  before.  Arrived  at  the  mouth 
of  the  cave,  and  peering  down  into  the  darkness 
within,  the  question  arose,  who  was  first  to 
enter  and  make  the  drop  into  the  unknovvn 
bottom.  Lots  were  drawn,  and  the  lot  fell  to 
the  present  writer.  Not  then  knowing  anything 
about  the  interior,  and  summoning  up  as  much 
courage,  faith,  and  hope  as  he  could  pump  up, 
he  descended  to  the  edge  of  the  interior  preci- 
pice, held  on  by  his  fingers,  if  not  by  the  skin 
of  his  teeth,  closed  his  eyes,  and — dropped  into 
the  dark  abyss.  The  result  was  that  he  found 
himself  prone  on  the  shingle  of  the  floor  of  the 
cave,  thankful,  however,  that  he  had  not  dropped 
fathoms  deep  into  water  ! 

"The  cave  within  is  a  high-arched,  roomy 
place,  capable  of  comfortably  accommodating  a 
considerable  number  of  persons.  Along  one 
side  of  the  rock  has  been  built  a  wall,  perf  )rated 
with  square  pigeon  holes  for  holding  Dutch 
bottles.  The  use  to  which  the  cave  had  been 
put — a  smuggling  cellar — is  thus  disclosed.     At 


Dirk  Hatt£raicks  Cave  'Interior),  ne^r  Ravenshall. 

li.v   M.   Ml,.   11mi|..i-. 


Diik  Hat  tern  ick'  s  Cave.  67 

the  upper  end  is  a  natural  bunker  in  the  rock, 
very  much  like  a  berth  in  a  ship's  cabin,  and 
-evidently  used  for  sleeping  purposes.  At  the 
top,  and  quite  close  to  the  rock-ceiling  of  the 
cave,  it  is  stated  that  there  is  a  crevice,  which 
admits  a  man's  recumbent  body  sideways,  and 
leads  to  yet  another  cave  on  the  western  side. 
Many  people,  who  have  been  in  the  principal 
cave,  and  thought  they  had  fully  explored  it, 
have  never  seen  this  high  crevice,  or  had  any 
suspicion  that  there  was  another  cave  entering 
only  from  the  top  of  the  interior  wall  of  the 
principal  one.  In  the  event  of  this  latter  being 
besieged  and  taken,  this  second  cave  would 
prove  a  useful  refuge,  not  likely  to  be  easily 
discovered.  Altogether,  the  place  is  a  very 
interesting  one.  No  doubt  the  cave  was  used 
by  smugglers,  and  amongst  others,  by  that 
notorious  Dutch  Captain,  Hawkins  (Yawkins), 
the  Dirk  Hatteraick  of  Guy  Mannering,  who  | 
long  visited  the  coast  with  contraband  goods, 
setting  Revenue  officers  and  cutters,  and  the 
laws  of  God  and  man,  at  defiance." 

The  description  of  the  cave  itself  in  Guy 
Mannering  corresponds  very  closely  with  the 
above,  and  the  access  to  it  from  the  Carsluith 
side  is  very  graphically  described  by  Sir  Walter's 
words  :  "  '  We  maun  go  the  precise  track,'  said 
Meg   Mcrrilies,  and   continued   to   go   forward. 


Yawkius  and  Billy  and  Flora  Marshall.   69 

but  rather  in  a  zig-zag  and  involved  course  than 
according  to  her  former  steady  and  direct  hne 
of  motion.  At  length  she  guided  them  through 
the  mazes  of  the  wood  to  a  little  open  glade  of 
about  a  quarter  of  an  acre,  surrounded  by  trees 
and  bushes,  and  which  made  a  wild  and  irregular 
boundary.  Even  in  winter  it  was  a  sheltered 
and  snugly  sequestered  spot ;  but  when  arrayed 
in  the  verdure  of  spring,  the  earth  sending  forth 
all  its  wild  flowers,  the  shrubs  spreading  their 
waste  of  blossom  around  it,  and  the  weeping 
birches  which  towered  over  the  underwood, 
drooping  their  long  and  leafy  fibres  to  intercept 
the  sun,  it  must  have  seemed  a  place  for  a 
youthful  poet  to  study  his  earliest  sonnet,  or  a 
pair  of  lovers  to  exchange  their  first  mutual 
avowal  of  affection." 

With  the  aid  of  a  flash  light  photograph,  of 
the  cave,  kindly  lent  by  Mrs  Cliff-M'CuUoch 
ot  Kirkclaugh,  Mr  M.  M'L.  Harper  has  been 
able  to  produce  an  excellent  black  and  while 
sketch  ol  Billy,  his  wife  (Flora),  and  Yawkins 
in  the  midst  of  imaginary  smuggling  operations 
within  Dirk  Hatteraick's  cave,  Ravenshall,  and 
we  are  pleased  to  be  allowed  to  reproduce  it  as 
an  illustration.  Near  to  Dirk  Hatteraick's  cave 
is  situated  Barholm  Castle— one  of  the  places 
having  claims  to  be  the  "  Ellanguwan  "  of  Gt^y 
Mannerini;;    but  of  that  anon.    '  Meantime  we 


70  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

direct  the  reader's  notice  to  the  accompanying 
graphic  sketch,  of  Barholm  Castle,  by  Mr  John 
Copland. 

It  is  evident  that  Luce  Bay  and  Wigtown 
Bay  were  favourite  places  for  discharging 
"  run  goods,"  and  Billy's  supposed  retreat  at 
Cairnsmore  would  form  a  splendid  point  for 
observation.  The  following  account  of  a  pro- 
cession of  lingtowmen  from  Wigtownshire  shows- 
that  the  old  path  taken  on  such  occasions- 
led  right  past  "  The  Dore  of  Cairnsmore,"  where 
Billy's  cave  dwellirg  is  supposed  to  have  beenr 
situated  :—"  In  old  times,  smuggling  was  a 
common  practice  in  Galloway.  All  classes  were 
engaged  in  it  more  or  less  ;  even  the  gentry  did 
not  disdain  to  take  part  in  it.  \\'igtownshire 
was  a  nest  of  them.  W.  Burnie,  The  Cuil,. 
when  a  young  man,  had  seen  eighty  pack  horses 
(with  men  in  attendance),  laden  with  brandy  and 
tea,  pass  the  house  on  their  way  through  the 
moor  by  the  Dore  of  Cairnsmore.  They  avoided 
the  public  roads,  all  classes  aiding  and  abetting 
them,  and  none  seeming  to  think  there  was  any 
harm  in  the  practice."' 

The  smugglers  from  the  Ravenshall  side  would 

take  the  back  road,  which  led  from  Dirk  Hatter- 

')aick's  Cave,  up  The  Cleugh,  over  the  Nick  o' 

\Doon,  past  "The  Gypsy  Weil,"  and  strike  the 

Corse  Road  at    Billy's  Brig.     That  lonely  road. 


Black  Malthetv's  Folk-tak.  7 1 

the  Corse,  passes  within  a  couple  of  miles  of 
the  Dore  of  Cairnsmore,  where  Billy's  famous 
cave  is  supposed  to  have  been  situated,  and  from 
which  point  of  vantage  Billy  could  not  only  see 
whatever  chanced  to  pass  up  the  Cuil  road  or 
along  The  Corse  o'  Slakes,  but  also  what  was 
going  on  in  Wigtown  Bay  and  even  in  Luce 
Bay. 

In  regar  J  to  that  "  large  cave  or  cavern  in  the 
high  grounds  of  Cairnsmore  in  Galloway,"  no 
one  living  appears  ever  to  have  seen  any  cave 
which  corresponded  with  that  description,  and 
still  less  with  descriptions  given  in  books  subse- 
quently published.  The  first  hint  given  of  the 
existence  of  such  a  cave  is  contained  in  the 
following  story  published  in  Black'cvooifs  Alas^n- 
zitie  of  i8i7'"': — "A  correspondent  ("-ays  the 
editor  of  Blackwood's  i\/agazi?te)  has  lately  sent 
us  the  following  anecdote  of  Billy  Mar>hall, 
derived,  as  he  informs  us,  from  Black  Matthew 
Marshall,  grandson  of  the  said  chieftain  :  — 
Marshall's  gang  had  long  held  possession  of  a 
large  cave  or  cavern  in  the  high  grounds  of 
Cairnsmore  in  Galloway,  where  they  usually 
deposited  their  plunder  and  sometimes  resided 
secure  from  the  officers  of  the  law,  as  no  one 
durst  venture  to  molest  the  tribe  in  that  retired 
subterraneous  situation.  It  happened  that  two 
Highlami  pipers,  strangers  to  the  country,  were 


72  The  Tinkler-Gxpsies. 

travelling  that  way  ;  and  falling  in  by  chance 
with  this  cave,  they  entered  it  to  shelter  them- 
selves from  the  weather,  and  resolved  to  rest 
there  during  the  night.  They  found  pretty 
good  quaiters,  hut  observed  some  very  suspici- 
ous furniture  in  the  cave,  which  indicated  the 
profession  and  character  of  its  absent  inhabi- 
tants. They  had  not  remained  long  till  they 
were  alarmed  by  the  voices  of  a  numerous  band 
advancing  to  its  entrance.  The  pipers  expected 
nothing  but  death  from  the  ruthless  Gypsies. 
One  of  them,  however,  being  a  man  of  some 
presence  of  mind,  called  to  his  neighbour 
instantlv  to  fiJ  his  bags  (doing  llie  same  him- 
self) and  to  strike  up  a  pibroch  with  all  his 
might  and  main.  Both  pipes  accf)rdingly  at 
once  commenced  a  most  tremendous  onset,  the 
cave  with  all  its  echoes  pealing  back  the 
■"Pibroch  of  Donuil  I)hu"  or  such  like.  At 
this  very  unex[)ected  and  terrific  reception — the 
yelling  of  the  bagpipe-;,  issuing  from  the  bowels 
of  the  earth,  just  at  the  moment  the  (jyi)sies 
entered  the  cave — Billy  Marshall  with  all  his 
band  precip  tately  fled  in  the  greatest  constenia- 
t'on,  and  Irom  that  night  never  again  would  go 
near  their  fav(niriie  haunt,  believing  that  the 
blast  they  had  lieard  ])roceeded  from  the  devil 
or  some  of  his  agents.  'l"he  pi{)ers  next  morning 
prosecuted  their  journey  in  s.ifety,  carrying  with 


''  Life  of  James  Allan.'"  73 

them  the  spolia  opii?ia  of  the  redoubted  Billy 
and  the  clan  Marshall.''  The  presence  of  bag- 
pipers— who  were  apparently  not  Gypsies — and 
the  story  being  told  by  a  Gypsy — a  race  of  great 
folk-tale  tellers — suggests  that  this  storv  may  be 
a  folk-tale,  like  all  the  other  wonderful  tales  of 
bagpipers  playing  in  subterranean  galleries. 
The  parties  in  this  case  are,  however,  not  even 
accompanied  by  fairies.  'J'he  tale  is,  of  course, 
spoiled  in  the  recording.  How  different  Black 
Matthew's  language  would  have  been  from  the 
spdha  opima  of  the  recorder  !  But  it  had  better 
be  stated  that  the  present  Marshalls  as  a  class 
are  not  nearly  so  fond  of  telling  folk-tales  as 
the  Macmillans.  'i'he  only  seemingly  direct 
confirmation  obtainable  of  the  existence  of  such 
a  cave  will  he  found  in  The  Life  (f  James  Allan, 
the  celebrated  Northumberland  Piper,  contain- 
ing his  surprising  adventures  and  wonderful 
achievements  in  England,  Scotland,  Ireland, 
France,  India,  Tartary,  Rus--ia,  Egypt,  and 
various  other  countries  in  Europe,  Asia,  and 
Africa,  taken  principally  from  his  own  relation 
{1818),^"  and  while  we  regard  the  book  as  of 
doubtful  authority  upon  the  subject  under  con- 
sideration, it  is  only  fair  to  cite  it  in  pos-ible 
confirmation  of  the  tradition.  There  is  no 
intention,  however,  to  cast  doubt  upon  the 
credibilitv    of   its    author.       Nevertheless,     one 


74  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

requires  to  take  cum  ^raiw  the  stories  told  ta 
him  by  one  whom  the  author  shows  in  ahnost 
every  page  of  his  book  to  be  utterly  regardless 
alike  of  veracity  and  morality.  That  book 
tacitly  bears  out  this  remarkable  trait  in  the 
Gypsy  character,  viz.,  the  care  with  which  they 
manage  to  prevent  outsiders  from  getting  to 
know  about  their  language.  If  memory 
serves  aright,  there  is  no  indication  whatever  in 
that  book  that  Allan  knew  anything  about  the 
Romani  language,  and  yet  he  was  married  to  a 
Marshall — who,  it  will  be  shown  in  a  later 
article,  spoke  a  cant  language  containing  many 
Romani  words  ;  and  mixed  with  Gypsies  all 
over  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland.  More- 
over, although  he  was  constantly  getting  into 
trouble,  and  as  marvellously  —  with  Gypsy 
cunning — getting  out  of  it  again,  when  commg. 
from  India  through  countries,  travelled  by 
Gypsies,  in  passing  from  Ilindoostan  ;  visiting 
Moscow  and  various  other  cities — where  large 
(jypsy  colonies  are  known  to  exist — and  whilst 
he  had  to  make  his  livelihood  in  these  places  by 
playing  his  pipes,  yet  he  never  seems  to  have 
attracted  the  attention  of  any  Gypsies  !  Nor 
does  his  Gypsy  language  ever  appear  to  have 
stood  him  in  stead.  One  is  inclined  to  say  if 
James  Allan  ever  visited  these  countries  he  left 
the  author  (jf  his  life  very  much  in  the  dark  as- 
to  what  actually  hajjpened. 


Billy  s  Caie-haioits.  75 

But  ihere  are  four  small  caves  on  Cairnsmore,. 
although  no  trace  can  be  found  of  a  cave  such 
as  that  indicated,  and  which  in  books  subse- 
quently published  is  thus  described  : — "  In  the 
side  of  the  mountain  (Cairnsmore),  facing  the 
station  (Dromore),  there  is  a  cave  of  very  large 
dimensions  said  to  have  been  at  one  time  the 
safe  retreat  of  the  renowned  Gypsy  K.ing,  Billy 
Marshall,  and  his  lawless  followers."  Now,  you 
will  see  that  the  original  description  does  not 
tally  wnth  this  more  recent  one.  In  the  former 
description,  "  a  large  cave  or  cavern  in  the  high 
grounds  of  Cairnsmore  in  Galloway  "  is  referred 
to  ;  in  the  latter,  the  "  cave  of  very  large  dimen- 
sions "  is  described  as  situated  in  the  "  side  of 
the  mountain  (Cairnsmore)  facing  the  station 
(Dromore)."  Having  repeatedly  searched 
Cairnsmore  and  Craignelder  for  caves,  and 
either  interviewed  or  communicated  with  every 
proprietor,  tenant,  gamekeeper,  foxhunter,  and 
shepherd  likely  to  be  able  to  give  information 
about  Cairnsmore  or  Craignelder,  we  can  find 
no  place  that  exactly  tallies  with  either  descrip- 
tion. Four  places,  however,  have  been  dis- 
covered that  might  possibly — with  a  stretch  of 
the  imagination — be  described  by  the  word 
"  cave." 

First.  There  is,  on  the  "  Red  Strand  " — close 
to  a    well-known    fox-yard — which    lies  on   the 


Billy'' s  Cav€-haiiii1s.  77 

eastern  sice  of  the  neck  of  mountain  which 
joins  Cairnsmore  with  Craignelder,  a  hole  of 
about  three  feet  in  width,  and  which  runs  back 
between  rocks  for  about  eight  feet.  This,  how- 
ever, has  no  evidence  of  man's  handiwork  about 
it  ;  there  is  no  tradition  about  its  ever  having 
been  occupied  ;  and  it  is  the  least  entitled  of 
the  four  to  be  called  a  "  cave." 

Second. — Near  to  the  "  Red  Strand,"  and 
situated — lower  down — on  the  north-western 
shoulder  of  Cairnsmore,  there  is  a  similar  cave 
which  runs  about  30  feet  into  the  mountains, 
and  at  its  broadest  part  will  be  about  nine  feet 
in  width. 

Third.  U[ion  the  eastern  face  of  Cairnsmore, 
and  to  the  left  of  the  Mill  Burn  as  you  ascend, 
there  is  a  substantially  built  cave.  It  is  situated 
about  200  yards  lower  down  the  mountain  than 
the  "  Three  Cairns  " — which,  by  the  way,  now 
number  "four'' — and  a  little  further  to  the  left 
of  the  cairns  as  you  ascend.  It  will  be  seen 
from  the  photograph  (produced  as  an  illustra- 
tion) of  this  cave  that  it  has  been  carefully  con- 
structed, and  a  large  flat  stone  lying  at  the 
entrance  exactly  fits  as  a  door  to  obscure  the 
opening,  and  when  thus  closed  it  is  most  diffi- 
cult, even  for  those  who  have  visited  it  before, 
to  find  it.  A  large  flat  boulder  forms  the  roof, 
and    from    its  sloping  position   it   would  rather 


78 


The  Tinkler-  G  i  'psies. 


■seem  as  if  the  roof  had  fallen  in,  thus  making 
the  cave  smaller  than  it  had  originally  been,  bat 
■even  now  there  is  room  for  three  ordinary  folks, 


Lini.-liL-ht  i.hni, 


Cave  on  ''Red  Strand 


or  four  Marshalls,  as,  according  to  a  story  which 
will  be  related  later  on,  they  had  the  knack  of 
huddling  together  as  closely  as  herrings  in 
.a  barrel. 


Billy  s  Cave-haunts.  79 

Fourth.  There  is  a  second  cave  on  Cairns- 
more,  and  this  one  goes  under  the  name  of 
"  M'Clave's  Pantry."  To  find  this  cave  one 
■requires  to  follow  the  march  dyke  between 
Bargally  and  Bardrochwood  till  it  joins  "  The 
Deil's  Dyke  ;"  thereafter  you  follow  "  The 
Deil's  Dyke "  along  the  mountain  side  in  a 
south-easterly  direction  until  a  ridge  is  reached, 
and  following,  down  the  mountain  for  about  100 
yards,  a  course  taken  almost  at  rigrit  angles  to 
^'  The  Deil's  Dyke,"  a  rocky  face  will  be  found 
wherein  is  situated  "  M'Clave's  Pantry."  It  is 
a  cave  of  natural  formation  amongst  rocks  ;  it  is 
about  three  feet  in  width,  and  runs  back  for 
about  nme  feet.  To  enter  it,  one  requires 
to  stoop.  There  is  a  tradition  to  the  effect 
that  this  cave  is  named  "  M'Clave's  Pantry  " 
because  it  was  the  hiding-place  in  Covenanting 
times  of  a  man  of  the  name  of  M'Clave.  This 
cave  also  looks  as  if  it  had  to  some  extent  fallen 
in — probably  as  the  result  of  foxhunters  digging 
round  about  it.  Curiously  enough,  there  is,  all 
along  the  brae  in  front  of  this  cave,  evidences 
of  illicit  "■  stills  "  having  at  one  time  been  much 
in  vogue.  The  place  still  goes  under  the 
appropriate  name  of  "The  Stell  Braes,"  and 
near  the  cave  will  be  found  the  remains  of 
several  shielings,  and  close  by  them  of  several 
•"stdls."     Something  similar  will  also  be  found 


So  The  Tijtkkr-Gypsie<. 

near  the  "  rees,"  at  the  head  of  the  Graddock 
Eurn.  Now,  these  two  latter  caves  can  neither 
be  said  to  be  of  "very  large"  dimensions,  nor 
even  of  "large"  dimensions,  but  there  is  little 
doubt  that  Billy,  when  he  lived  in  his  little 
hut  in  Bargaly  (lien,  just  at  the  foot  of  Cairns- 
more,  and  only  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
the  built  cave  and  "  M'Clave's  Pantry,"  would 
know  about  these  caves.  Billy,  like  many 
another  Tinkler,  would  be  able  to  make  the 
"worm,"  the  "copper,"  and  other  distilling 
paraphernalia.  When  carrying  on  the  distillmg 
and  "  levelling  "  departments  of  his  profession, 
he  would  find  the  built  cave  and  "  M'Clave's- 
Pantry  "  almost  of  daily  use  to  him,  and,  when 
hard  pressed,  all  of  these  caves  would  afford 
.  him  places  of  safety,  where  it  would  be  courting 
death  for  a  foe  to  venture,  and  where,  even  if 
anyone  should  venture,  he  would  have  great 
difficulty  in  finding  Billy's  place  of  hiding,  liut 
this  is  not  a  point  upon  which  to  dogmatise. 
We  only  wish,  in  regard  to  this  matter,  as  indeed 
in  regard  to  all  the  other  information  collected, 
to  state  frankly  what  has  been  learned,  so  that 
others  may  take  uj)  the  thread  where  it  has  been 
left  off.  And  while  we  say,  after  most  careful 
enquiry  at  likely  sources,  and  after  enjoying 
many  a  long  tramp  in  search  of  this  mysterious 
cave,  no  such  cave  is  known  to  exist,  we  do  not 


Billfs  Cave-liaunts.  8r 

mean  anyone  to  run  away  with  the  idea  that 
such  a  cave  never  existed.  It  may  have 
existed  ;  it  may  still  exist ;  but  no  one  knows  its 
whereabouts.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  it 
is  no  easy  task  to  find  a  cave  on  Cairnsmore  or 
Craignelder.  From  a  rough  calculation,  it 
would  seem  that  Cairnsmore  and  Craignelder 
cover  an  area  of  about  24  square  miles  of  the 
wildest  and  most  rugged  mountainous  character 
in  the  South  of  Scotland.  In  the  course  of  our 
enquiries,  it  was  only  after  almost  despairing  to 
find  any  cave  on  Cairnsmore  that  Mr  Gavin 
M'Crae,  formerly  of  Bargaly,  was  approached 
upon  the  subject,  and  he  gave  full  particulars 
as  to  where  the  built  cave  and  "  M'Clave's 
Pantry  "  would  be  found  ;  but  four  visits  had  to 
be  paid  to  Cairnsmore — once  in  company  with  a 
shepherd  who  had  herded  that  mountain  for 
years,  and  once  with  a  gamekeeper — before  the 
four  caves  were  located.  Even  with  the  most; 
careful  written  description  before  us,  the  shep- 
herd and  the  writer  hereof  had  to  come  away 
without  finding  "  M'Clave's  Pantry."  Now,  all 
this  shows  that  Billy's  cave  should  by  no  means 
be  regarded  as  a  myth.  Probably  one  of  these 
above  described  may  be  the  cave  referred  to  ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  there  may  exist  some-  / 
where  a  large  cave  on  Cairnsmore,  the  mouth  of 
which  may  at  present  be  obscured.     The  late. 

6 


o      S 
_] 
o     ^ 


Billy  s  Pictish  Descent.  83 

Mr  Stroyan,  Clendrie,  who  knew  every  foot  of 
Cairnsmore,    and    particularly    of   the    Dore  of 
Cairnsmore,  offered  this  feasible  solution.     He 
said  "  that  landslips  are  of  frequent  occurrence 
on  the  Dore  of  Cairnsmore,  and  that  it  is  just 
possible  that  the  entrance  to  Billy's  large  cave 
or  cavern  has  been  blinded  up."      Perchance, 
through    Nature's    mysterious    operations,     the 
mouth  of  the  cave  may  again  be  laid  bare,  and 
some  lucky  mountaineer  may  yet  chance  upon 
the  cave  and  "  its  many  valuable  articles,"  which 
the    author    of  Junies  Allan's  Life — writing   in 
full  knowledge  of  the  article  which  appeared  in 
Blackwood's  Alaqazine,  and   which   stated    that 
the  two  pipers  carried  off  with  them  the  spolia 
opima    of   the    redoubted    Billy   and    the    Clan 
Marshall— says  are  still  deposited  in  that  cave. 
But   let  us  make  a    suggestion    to   those    who 
believe  in   the  reality  of  such  a  tradition  :  why  1 
not  enter  at  the  Co'  o'  Caerclaugh,''"  and,  resting  1 
manfully  upon  tradition,  struggle  on — as  did  a  | 
certain    dog    who    came  out  with  his   whiskers 
singed — till   you   reach  its  other  orifice,   which 
will  be  found  at  the  Dore  of  Cairnsmore  nearly 
10  miles  away,  and  then,  and  probably  not  till 
then,  will   you   find    Billy   Marshall's   cave    "of, 
very  large  dimensions  "I  ' 

It  is  impossible  to  prove  that  Billy  had  any 
real  claim  to  being  the  last  Pictish    King.     Any 


84 


The  Tinkler-  Gypsies. 


evidence  now  forthcoming  can  only  be  regarded 
•  as  of  doubtful  value,  but  whether  his  Scottish 
ancestors  were  Picts  or  not,  he  and  his  gang 
exercised  many  of  the  primitive  characteristics 
— such  as  polygamous  habits,  cave  dwelling, 
painting  their  faces  with  ruddle — practised  by 
uncivilised  races.* 

*  See  details  in  former  edition. 


CHAPTER   III. 


"  Donald  Caird  can  wire  a  maukin, 
Kens  the  wiles  of  dun-deer  staukin', 
Leisters  kipper,  makes  a  shift 
To  shoot  a  muir-fowl  i"  the  drift  : 
Water-bailiffs,  rangers,  keepers. 
He  can  wauk  when  they  are  sleepers  ; 
Not  for  bountith,  or  reward, 
Daur  they  mell  wi'  Donald  Caird. 

Donald  Caird's  come  again, 
Donald  Caird's  come  again, 
Tell  the  news  in  brugh  and  glen, 
Donald  Caird's  come  again." 

"  Donald  Caird,'  by  Sir  Walter  Scott. 


'h0'  N  the  Additional  Note  to  Guy 
Ma?ineri7ig  •''*  we  have  Sir  \A'alter 
Scott's  own  authority  for  taking  it 
that  "Meg  Merrilies"  may  be  re- 
garded at  least  as  ''a  representative 
of  her  sect  and  class  in  general — 
Flora  (Marshall,  one  of  Billy's  many  wives),  as 
well  as  others."  His  utterance  upon  that 
subject  is  somewhat  equivocal  : — • 

"Now,  I  cannot  grant  that  the  idea  of  Meg  Merrilies 
was,  in  the  first  concoction  of  the  character,  derived 
from  Flora  Marshall,  seeing  I  have  already  said  she  was 
identified  with  Jean  Gordon,  and  as  I  have  not  the  Laird 
of  Bargaly's  apology  for  charging  the  same  fact  on  two. 


86  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

several  individuals,  ^'et  I  am  quite  content  that  Metj 
should  be  considered  as  a  representative  of  her  sect  and 
class  in  general — Flora,  as  well  as  others." 

It  is  the  truth,  but  is  it  the  whole  truth  ? 
Indeed,  does  the  wording  not  rather  indicate 
that  the  author,  in  identifying  "  Meg  MerriHes  " 
with  Jean  Gordon,  had  been  caught  in  faiUng 
to  attribute  to  Flora  Marshall  and  the  Galloway 
Gypsies  a  fair  share  in  what  may  at  least  be 
described  as  a  composite  picture  of  Madge 
Gordon  and  other  Gypsy  women  ?  In  the 
letter  quoted  in  a  previous  chapter,  Mr  James 
Murray  M'Culloch,  with  whose  farnily — the 
M'CuUochs  of  Ardwall — Sir  Walter  was  on 
most  intimate  terms,  says  : — 

"  I  am  not  very  sure  about  giving  you  up  Meg 
MerriHes  quite  so  easily  ;  I  have  reason  to  think  she  was 
a  Marshall  and  not  a  Gordon,  and  we  folks  in  Galloway 
think  this  attempt  of  the  Borderers  to  rob  us  of  Meg 
MerriHes  no  proof  that  they  have  become  quite  so 
religious  and  pious  as  your  author  would  have  us  to 
believe,  but  rather  that,  with  their  religion  and  piety, 
they  still  retain  some  of  their  ancient  hal:)its." 

Do  not  Sir  Walter's  own  remarks,  above  quoted, 
about  Y\o\i\  Marshall  read  like  admitting — as 
much  as  ever  he  could,  consistently  with  having 
already  said  Jean  Gordon  was  the  prototype  of 
"  Meg  MerriHes  " — the  truth  of  the  claim  made 
by  Mr  James  Murray  M'Culloch  many  years 
previously,  and  which  he  prefaced  with  the 
words,  "  I  have  reasofi  to  ihink  "  ? 


Train  s  Galloway  Gypsy  Stones.         87 

In  the  groundwork  of  Guy  Mannering,  1842,'^* 
included  in  recent  editions  of  Guy  Mannering, 
we  find  : — 

"  Shortly  after  (on  Xovember  7th,  1814)  the  publica- 
tion of  IVaverley,  as  stated  in  the  Life  of  Scott,  Mr 
Train  forwarded  to  Abbotsford  a  MS.  collection  of 
anecdotes  relating  to  the  Galloway  Gypsies,  together 
with  (in  Mr  Train's  own  words)  '  a  local  story  of  an 
astrologer.    .   .    .'" 

That  these  Gypsy  stories  contributed  by  Mr 
Joseph  Train  had  an  important  influence  upon 
Sir  A\'alter  is  clearly  indicated  in  a  letter ""' ad- 
dressed by  Train  himself  to  Mr  J.  G.  Lockhart, 
the  writer  of  The  Life,  on  ist  July,  1833  : — 

"  Many  of  my  earliest  communications  to  Sir  Walter 
of  which  I  have  not  a  copy  are  now,  I  daresay,  in  your 
hands,  and  I  believe  you  will  find  what  I  have  written  in 
the  following  sheets  from  recollection  to  be  in  strict 
accordance  with  the  original  document  referred  to. 

"At  my  last  interview  with  Sir  Walter  he  adverted  to 
having  at  nearly  the  commencement  of  our  acquaintance 
received  a  letter  from  me  of  which  I  had  then  only  a 
faint  remembrance,  which  first  directed  his  attention  to 
the  peculiarities  of  the  Gypsy  character  afterwards  so 
accurately  and  strongly  delineated  by  his  inimitable 
hand." 

That  letter,  written  by  Train  to  Lockhart, 
forwarding  a  MS.  volume  re  written  under 
Train's  direction  by  his  son  William,  contained 
a  resume  of  his  communications  and  meetings 
with  Sir  Walter.  In  acknowledging  the  letter, 
Lockhart  wrote  as  follows  ■*'  : — 


88  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

"24  Sussex  Place,  Regent's  Park, 
"  London,  October  i,  if^33. 
"  Dear  Sir, — Vour  MS.  volume,  thougii  dated  July 
the  1st,  only  reached  me  yesterday.  I  have  perused  it 
with  great  interest,  shall  avail  myself  of  it  largely  in 
drawing  up  the  narrative  of  your  great  and  dear  friend's 
life,  and  then  return  it  carefully  to  your  hands.  I  have 
now  by  me  three  volumes  of  your  MS.  communications 
to  Sir  Walter  which  I  found  bound  in  one  of  his  cabinets, 
but  I  have  not  yet  had  time  to  read  their  contents.  I  pre- 
sume I  am  at  liberty  to  make  use  of  them  also,  and  will 
do  so  unless  you  forbid  me.  The  whole  story  of  your 
connection  is  most  honourable  to  you,  and  in  no  account 
of  Sir  Walter  can  your  name  ever  fail  to  occupy  a 
distinguished  place." 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  precisely 
what  these  Gypsy  stories  were  which  Train 
communicated  to  Sir  Walter /r.w  to  publication 
of  the  first  edition  of  Guy  Ma/mering  so  as  to 
see  to  what  extent  these  had  influenced  the  plot 
or  scope  of  Guy  Manneriiio.  But,  alas,  what 
do  we  find  ?  In  spite  of  Lockhart's  protestation 
that  he  would  return  Train's  MS.  volume 
"  carefully  to  your  hands,"  there  stand  these 
two  notes  in  Train's  own  handwriting  on  the 
volume*-  itself,  showing  how  Lockhart  failed 
to  keep  his  promise  : — 

"  I33>  1341  5'  6,  7,  8.     These  leaves  were  torn  out  by 
Mr  Lockhart  and   the  contents   published  in  his  Life  of 
Sir  Walter  Scott,  vol.  v.,  pp.  325-6.        (Intd.)     f.  T." 

"  13-28.  The  leaves  here  wanting  were  lorn  out  by 
Mr  Lockhart  and  the  contents  published  in  his  Life  of 
Sir  Walter  Siott,  vol.  iii.,  jjp.  405-6-7-8-9-10,  41 1  12- 
13-14.  (Intd.)         J.  T." 


Sir  Walter  and  Mr  and  Airs  Thos.  Scott.   89 

And  in  regard  to  the  three  volumes  of  Train's 
MS.  communications  which  Lockhart  found 
bound  in  one  of  Sir  Walter's  cabinets,  and 
which  Lockhart  also  had  before  him  when 
writing  from  London  the  letter  above  quoted^ 
these  precious  literary  documents  cannot  now 
be  discovered.  Is  it  a  fair  inference  that  these 
interesting  MSS.  may  al^o  have  fallen  a  victim  to 
literary  vandalism,  and  have  been  cut  up  to  suit 
Sir  Walter's  biographer,  and  to  save  him  the 
trouble  of  having  the  quotations — which  he 
intended  to  use — re-copied?  It',  however,  these 
three  precious  volumes  are  still  in  existence,  for 
example,  in  the  hands  of  whoever  succeeded  ta 
Lockhart's  library,  surely  this  wail  will  cause 
their  present  possessor  to  acknowledge  where 
they  are  now  deposited.  Enquiry  at  Abbots- 
ford,  and  at  most  of  the  likely  authorities  upon 
such  a  subject,  has  elicited  the  information  that 
these  volumes  are  not  in  the  catalogue  of  the 
Abbotsford  Library;  J.  G.  Cochrane,  1830,  are 
not  likely  to  be  at  Abbotsford  :  and  also,  that 
it  is  not  known  whether  the  missing  three 
volumes  are  now  in  existence. 

But  from  the  information  still  available  and 
above  quoted,  it  is  quite  clear  that  Sir  Walter 
derived  a  considerable  amount  of  information 
about  the  Gallow.iy  Gypsies  from  Train. 
Moreover,  Captain  and   Mrs  Thomas  Scott  and 


90  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

their  son  and  daughter  all  appear  to  have  been 
great  favourites  with  Sir  Walter,  and  from  them 
he  would  doubtless  obtain  furdier  information. 
Previous  to  Captain  Thomas  Scott's  death  in 
1823,  his  son  had  spent  two  years  at  Abbotsford, 
and  Mrs  Thomas  Scott  and  the  rest  of  her  family 
were  also  guests  there  for  a  considerable  time 
after  she  became  a  widow.  Sir  Walter  was 
attached  to  his  brother  Thomas,  whom  he 
described  as  "a  man  of  infinite  humour  and 
e.xcellent  parts,"  and  Mrs  Thomas  Scott's  apti- 
tude in  relating  Galloway  traditions  to  Sir  Walter 
may  have  had  much  to  do  with  his  regard  for 
her.  We  have  already  noted  that  her  brother, 
James  Murray  M'Cultoch  of  Ardwall,  and  even 
his  great-grandmother  were  both  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  Marshall  gang,  and  it  is  not 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  any  information  about 
Galloway  Gypsies  at  the  disposal  of  any  member 
-of  the  M'Culloch  family  would  be  withheld  from 
Sir  Walter,  their  intimate  friend  and  relative. 

From  an  interesting,  though  somewhat  loosely 
conducted  correspondence,  which  appeared  in 
the  columns  of  the  Galioiv  ly  Gazette  newspaper 
during  the  months  of  February,  March,  and 
April,  1 88 1,  a  fair  and  reasonable  construction 
of  the  facts  adduced  seems  to  be  {a)  that  prior 
to  publication  of  the  first  edition  of  Guy  Man- 
nering.  Train   had  communicated  to  Sir  Walter 


'■^  Guy  Mantiering"  Cant  JVords.         91 

"  a  collection  of  anecdotes  relating  to  the 
Galloway  Gypsies,  together  with  (in  Train's  own 
words)  'a  local  story  of  an  astrologer  .  .  .  '" ;  {l>) 
that  Sir  Walter's  brother  Thomas  was  married 
to  Elizabeth  M'CuUoch  of  Ardwall,  that  they 
were  on  most  friendly  teims  with  Sir  Walter, 
frequently  visiting  him,  and  that,  in  all  proba- 
bility. Sir  Walter  would  be  furnished  with  all 
the  information  at  the  di'^posal  of  Mrs  EHzabeth 
M'CuUoch  or  Scott  and  the  M'Culloch  family 
in  regard  to  Galwegian  Gypsies,  smugglers, 
localities,  and  families  ;  and  (c)  that  the  balance 
of  evidence  is  in  favour  of  Sir  Walter's  having 
visited  Galloway.*  The  fact  that  the  evidence 
in  favour  of  Sir  Walter's  having  visited  Galloway 
is  imperfect  rather  confirms  one's  belief  in  the^r 
accuracy  than  otherwise.  George  Borrow  also 
made  a  tour  through  Galloway  at  a  much  later 
date  than  Scott,  yet  how  many  Gallovidians 
could  produce  confirmation  of  that  fact,  or, 
indeed,  know  anything  about  his  visit  ?  But 
fortunately  it  is  referred  to  in  Dr  Knapp's  Life 
of  Borroii\^^  and  the  Memorandum  of  his  to'ir 
through  Galloway  has  been  recoided  in  vol. 
vii.,  p.  117,  of  The  Ga/Iovidian.^ 

The  cant  language  put  in  the  mouths  of  the 
Gypsies  of  Guy  Maniiering  is  quite  as  appro- 
priate   to  the    Tmklers   of  Galloway  as   to  the 

*  See  details  in  former  edition. 


92  The  Ti)ikler-Gypsies. 

Yetholm  Gypsies.  The  following  words  and 
expressions  used  by  the  Gypsies  of  Guy  Alanner- 
ing  appear  to  be  still  in  use  in  one  form  or 
another  amongst  Galwegian  Tinklers  : — ■ 

DoiiseJhe^oJim — Put  out  the  light. 

Cut  hen  zvhids  and  statu  them — a  gentry  cove  of  the  ken — 

Stop  your  uncivil  language — a  gentleman  from  the 

house  below. 
Kitchenniorl—K  girl  ;  (?  kinchenmort). 
Aliliin'  in  the  darkinans — Murder  by  night. 
Cheat  (pronounced  chaet) — A  thing  ;  a  generic   word  of 

very  general  application. 
Bing  cot  and  tour — Go  out  and  watch. 
Strain  met — S  t  ra  w. 
Z)a;-^;Vj-  — Handcuffs. 
Shand—'Qz.d  coin. 

fauthtes  (pronounced  fammels)^Hands. 
Kinchen — A  child. 
Libken — Lodgings. 

These  all  seem  to  be  known  also  to  Yetholm 
Gypsies,  and  most  of  them  can  be  found  in  lists 
of  Yetholm  (iypsy  words.  There  are  a  few 
others  which  do  not  now  appear  to  be  in  use, 
but  may  nevertheless  have  been  common  both 
to  Yetholm  and  Galloway  Gypsies  a  century  or 
two  ago.     .Such  are  : — 

Bhinker —  ? 

Oop — To  unite. 

Sttnkie  —\  low  stool  or  cushicjii. 

Scouring  the  cramp-ring — Being  thrown  into  fetters,  or, 

generally,  into  prison. 
Cloyed  a  //W— Stolen  a  rag. 
/; ammagemm'd you — Throttled  you. 


"  Guy  Alamieritig''  Gypsy  Characteristics.    93 

She  sxvore  by  the  sa  'iiion — The  great  and  inviolable  oaths 
of  the  strolling  tribes.  {cf.  Mr  Francis  Hindes 
Groome's  Note,  p.  32,  oi In  Gypsy  Tents,  contrasting 
that  oath  with  the  Gypsy  use  of  the  word  "  sacra- 
ment "  for  an  oath  and  the  Tinkler-word  "  sallah  " 
for  a  curse. ) 

Roughies — Withered  boughs  ;  unless  the  term  "  roughie 
paws "  applied  to  the  Marshalls,  the  horners,  of 
Kilmaurs,  on  account  of  their  rough  hands,  can  be 
held  to  be  the  same  word. 

But  whilst  even  at  the  present  day  there  are 
still  many  Romany  words  in  use  amongst  the 
Galloway  Tinklers,  we  have  it  from  no  less  an 
authority  than  the  late  Mr  Groome  that  there  is 
only  one  word  of  real  Rojna7ies  amongst  all  the 
cant  words  used  in  Sir  Walter  Scott's  works. 
He  say.s^' : — "  Whence,  by  the  bye,  did  Scott 
get  chury,  the  only  true  Romany  word  in  all  his 
works  ?  It  occurs  not  in  Guy  Mannering,  but 
in  The  Heart  of  Alidlothiati  and  The  Fortunes 
of  Nigeir  To  that  one  word  Mr  David 
MacRitchie  suggests  that  the  term  "  Roughies  " 
applied  by  "  Meg  Merrilies  "  to  withered  leaves, 
and  the  word  "  shand,"  used  to  denote  bad 
coin,  should  be  added. ^^  Since,  then,  the 
Gypsies  of  Guy  Mamiering  may  be  taken  as 
typical  of  Galloway  Gypsies,  let  us  glance  at  the 
Gypsy  character  in  the  light  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott's  masterly  analysis  of  it  : 

Of  all  the  many  writers  of  literature  treating 
of  Gypsies,  Sir  Walter  Scott  has  succeeded  the 


94  The  Ti /I kkr- Gypsies. 

mosl  admirably  in  hitting  off  the  precise  posi- 
tion Gypsies  then  occupied  socially  ;  in  boldly 
portraying  their  "  idle  and  vicious  "  character- 
istics ;  and  yet  with  sympathetic  hand  in  at 
same  time  recording  their  good  qualities.  Take, 
for  example,  his  splendid  word-picture  of  the 
eviction  of  the  Gypsies  from  "  Derncleugh."  He 
begins  by  giving  a  description  of  the  relative 
positions  held  by  the  Gypsies  of  that  period 
and  the  Lord  of  the  Manor,  where  they 
happened  to  have  their  headquarters  : — 

"  A  tribe  of  these  itinerants,  to  whom  Meg  Merrilies 
appertained,  had  long  been  as  stationary  as  their  habits 
permitted,  in  a  glen  upon  the  estate  of  Ellangowan. 
They  had  there  erected  a  few  huts,  which  they  denomi- 
nated their  '  city  of  refuge,'  and  when  not  absent  on 
excursions,  they  harboured  unmolested,  as  the  crows  that 
roosted  in  the  old  ash-trees  around  them.  They  had 
been  such  long  occupants  that  they  were  considered  in 
some  degree  as  proprietors  of  the  wretched  shealings 
which  they  inhabited.  This  protection  they  were  said 
anciently  to  have  repaid,  by  service  to  the  laird  in  war, 
or  more  frequently,  by  infesting  or  plundering  the  lands 
of  those  neighbouring  barons  with  whom  he  chanced  to 
be  at  feud.  Latterly  their  services  were  of  a  more  pacific 
nature.  The  women  spun  mittens  for  the  lady,  and 
knitted  boot  hose  for  the  laird,  which  were  annually 
presented  at  Christmas  with  great  form.  The  aged  sibyls 
blessed  the  bridal  bed  of  the  laird  when  he  married,  and 
the  cradle  of  the  heir  when  born.  The  men  repaired  her 
ladyship's  cracked  china,  and  assisted  the  laird  in  his " 
sporting  parties,  wormed  his  dogs,  and  cut  the  ears  of  his 
terrier  puppies.  The  children  gathered  nuts  in  the 
woods,  and  cranberries  in  the  moss,  and  mushrooms  on 
the  pastures,  for  tribute  to  the    Place.       These   acts   of 


Barholm   Castle  ("  Ellangowan"). 

Photr,  by  Wm.  Hunter  &  Son. 


96  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

voluntary  service  and  acknowledgmenls  of  dependence 
were  rewarded  by  protection  on  some  occasions,  conniv- 
ance on  others,  and  broken  victuals,  ale  and  brandy, 
when  circumstances  called  for  a  display  of  generosity  ; 
and  this  mutual  intercourse  of  good  offices,  which  liad 
been  carried  on  for  at  least  two  centuries,  rendered  the 
inhabitants  of  Derncleugh  a  kind  of  privileged  retainers 
upon  the  estate  of  Ellangowan.  '  The  knaves  '  were  the 
laird's  '  exceeding  good  friends '  ;  and  he  would  have 
deemed  himself  very  ill-used  if  his  countenance  could  not 
now  and  then  have  borne  them  out  against  the  law  of  the 
country  and  the  local  magistrate.  But  this  friendly  union 
was  soon  to  be  dissolved." 

Then  Sir  Walter  humorously  describes  the 
change  in  Mr  Bertram's  attitude  towards  his 
erstwhile  friends — owing  to  his  advancement  to 
the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  : — 

"  But  these  halcyon  days  were  now  to  have  an  end, 
and  a  minatory  inscription  on  one  side  of  the  gate  intima- 
ted '  prosecution  according  to  law  '  (the  painter  had  spelt 
\\.  persecution — I'un  vaut  bien  I'autre)  to  all  who  should 
be  found  trespassing  on  these  enclosures.  On  the  other 
side,  for  uniformity's  sake,  was  a  precautionary  annuncia- 
tion of  spring-guns  and  man-traps  of  such  formidable 
power  that,  said  the  rubric,  with  an  emphatic  nota  bene 
— '  if  a  man  goes  in,  they  will  break  a  horse's  leg.'  " 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  naturally  Sir 
Walter  causes  the  breach  between  the  laird  and 
-the  Gypsies  to  commence — a  breach  for  which 
the  onus  of  blame  clearly  lay  most  heavily  at 
the  door  of  the  laird  : — 

"  In  defiance  of  these  threats,  six  well-grown  Gypsy 
boys  and  girls  were  riding  cock-h.irse  upon  the  new  gate, 
and  plaiting  May-flowers,  which  it  was  but  too  evident 


^''  Guy  Afa?menng"  Gypsy  Characteristics.  97 

had  been  gathered  within  the  forbidden  precincts.  With 
as  much  anger  as  he  was  capable  of  feeling,  or  perhaps 
of  assuming,  the  laird  commanded  them  to  descend  ; 
they  paid  no  attention  to  his  mandate  ;  he  then  began  to 
pull  them  down  one  after  another  ;  they  resisted, 
passively,  at  least,  each  sturdy  bronzed  varlet  making 
himself  as  heavy  as  he  could,  or  climbing  up  as  fast  as  he 
was  dismounted. 

"The  laird  then  called  in  the  assistance  of  his  servant, 
a  surly  fellow,  who  had  immediate  recourse  to  his  horse- 
whip. A  few  lashes  sent  the  party  a-scampering ;  and 
thus  commenced  the  first  breach  of  the  peace  between 
the  house  of  Ellangowan  and  the  Gypsies  of  Derncleugh." 

Next  followed,  by  instigation  of  the  laird, 
horse-whippings  of  the  children  of  the  Gypsies, 
poindings  of  Gypsies'  cuddies,  curious  enquiries 
into  the  Gypsies'  mode  of  gaining  a  livelihood, 
and  objections  raised  to  their  absence  from 
their  sleeping  hovels  during  the  night.  Soon 
the  Gypsies  retaliated  in  defence  : — 

"  Ellangowan 's  hen-roosts  were  plundered,  his  linen 
stolen  from  the  lines  or  bleaching-ground,  his  fishings 
poached,  his  dogs  kidnapped,  his  growing  trees  cut  or 
barked.  Much  petty  mischief  was  done,  and  some 
evidently  for  the  mischiefs  sake." 

The  laird  carried  the  war  further  ;  warrants 
against,  apprehensions  of,  Gypsies,  floggings  of 
children,  "and  one  Egyptian  matron  sent  to  the 
house  of  correction  "  : — 

"  Still,  however,  the  Gypsies  made  no  motion  to  leave 
the  spot  which  they  had  so  long  inhabited,  and  Mr 
Bertram  felt  an  unwillingness  to  deprive    them  of  their 


98  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

ancient  '  city  of  refuge  ; '  so  that  the  petty  warfare  we 
have  noticed  continued  for  several  months,  without 
increase  or  abatement  of  hostilities  on  either  side." 

And  yet  in  spite  of  all  his  cold-hearted  treat- 
ment of  his  former  proteges,  we  find  that  "Meg 
Merrilies" — "  the  Galwegian  sibyl" — had  not 
forgotten  what  she  had  said  of  the  laird  in  the 
days  when  he  treated  the  Gypsies  of  "  Dern- 
cleugh  "  kindly  : — 

"  '  O  troth,  laird,'  continued  Meg,  during  this  by-talk, 
'  it's  but  to  the  like  o'  you  ane  can  open  their  heart. 
Ve  see,  'they  say  Dunbog  is  nae  mair  a  gentleman  than 
the  blunker  that's  biggit  the  bonnie  house  down  in  the 
howm.  But  the  like  o'  you,  laird,  that's  a  real  gentleman 
for  sae  mony  hundred  years,  and  never  hunds  puir  fowk 
aff  your  grund  as  if  they  were  mad  tykes,  nane  o'  our 
fowk  wad  stir  your  gear  if  ye  had  as  mony  capons  as 
there's  leaves  on  the  trysting-tree.  And  now  some  o'  ye 
maun  lay  down  yer  watch,  and  tell  me  the  very  minute  o' 
the  hour  the  wean's  born,  and  I'll  spae  its  fortune.'" 

But  how  did  her  gratitude  for  old-time  kindness 
find  an  outlet  ?  Little  Harry  Bertram  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  wandering  in  the  woods, 
and  occasionally  even  made  a  stolen  excursion 
as  far  as  the  Gypsy  hamlet  at  Derncleugh  :  — 

"  On  these  occasions  he  was  generally  brought  back 
by  Meg  Merrilies,  who,  though  she  could  not  be  pievailed 
upon  to  enter  the  place  of  Ellangowan  after  her  nephew 
had  been  given  up  to  the  pressgang,  did  not  apparently 
extend  her  resentment  to  the  child.  On  the  contrary, 
she  often  contrived  to  waylay  him  in  his  walks,  sang  him 
a  Gyp.sy  song,  give   him   a  ride   upon   her  jackass,   and 


'■'' Guy  xMa/uiering"  Gypsy  Characteristics.  99 

thrust  into  his  pocket  a  piece  of  gingerbread  or  a  red- 
clieeked  apple.  The  woman's  ancient  attachment  to  the 
family,  repelled  and  checked  in  every  other  direction, 
seemed  to  rejoice  in  having  some  object  on  which  it 
could  yet  repose  and  expand  itself.  She  prophesied  a 
hundred  times  '  that  young  Mr  liarry  would  be  the 
pride  o'  the  familj-,  and  there  hadna  been  sic  a  sprout 
frae  the  auld  aik  since  the  death  o'  Arthur  MacDingawaie, 
that  was  killed  in  the  battle  o'  the  Bloody  Bay ;  as  for 
the  present  stick,  it  was  good  for  naething  but  firewood.' 
On  one  occasion,  when  the  child  was  ill,  she  lay  all 
night  below  the  window,  chanting  a  rhyme  which  she 
believed  sov-ereign  as  a  febrifuge,  and  could  neither  be 
prevailed  upon  to  enter  the  house,  nor  to  leave  the 
station  she  had  chosen,  till  she  was  informed  that  the 
crisis  was  over." 

The   laird's    wife    grew  suspicious   of    Meg's 
affection  for  and  influence  over  her  child  : — 

"The    laird     determined    to     make    root    and   branch 
work  with  the  Maroons  of  '  Derncleugh.'  " 

The  pathetic  scene  at  the  eviction — beheld  "  in 
sullen  silence  and  inactivity  by  the  Gypsies  " — 
and  that  tragic  picture,  when  the  laird,  who, 
not  having  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  was 
slinking  away  out  of  the  road  to  pay  a  visit  to  a 
friend  at  a  distance,  came  unexpectedly  face  to 
face  with  the  Gypsy  procession  as  they  sadly 
wended  their  way — by  the  old  road  which  leads 
through  the  Nick  o'  the  Doon  (?) — from  their 
demohshed  homes,  are  described  with  the 
tender  regard  of  one  who  has  succeeded  in 
identifying  himself  with  the  Gypsies'  standpoint, 


^^  Guy  Ala  uttering"  Gypsy  Characteristics.  loi 

and  shows  himself  capable  of  observing  their 
true  characteristics.  In  the  concluding  part  of 
that  chapter  (x.)  he  also  shows  a  keen  insight 
into  the  Gypsies'  habit  of  mind  : — 

"'I'll    be    d d,'    said  the  groom,    '  if  she  has  not 

been  cutling  the  young  ashes  in  the  Dukit  park  !'  The 
laird  made  no  answer,  but  continued  to  look  at  the  figure 
which  was  thus  perched  above  his  path. 

"  '  Ride  your  ways,'  said  the  Gypsy,  '  ride  your  ways, 
Laird  of  Ellangowan— ride  your  ways,  Godfrey  Bertram  ! 
This  day  have  ye  quenched  seven  smoking  hearths — see 
if  the  fire  in  yer  ain  parlour  burn  the-ilither  for  that.  Ye 
have  riven  the  thack  oft"  seven  cottar  houses-^look  if  your 
ain  roof-tree  stand  the  faster.  Ye  may  stable  your  stirks 
in  the  shealings  at  Derncleugh — see  that  the  hare  does 
not  couch  on  the  hearth-stane  at  Ellangowan.  Ride  your 
ways,  Godfrey  Bertram — what  do  ye  glower  after  our 
folk  for  ?  There's  thirty  hearts  there  that  wud  hae 
wanted  bread  ere  ye  had  wanted  sunkets,  and  spent  their 
life-bluid  ere  ye  had  scratched  your  finger.  Yes,  tliere's 
thirty  yonder,  from  the  auld  wife  of  an  hundred  to  the 
babe  that  was  born  last  week,  that  ye  have  turned  out  o' 
their  bits  o'  bields,  to  sleep  with  the  tod  and  the  black- 
cock in  the  muirs  !  Ride  your  ways,  Ellangowan.  Our 
bairns  are  hinging  at  our  weary  backs — look  that  your 
braw  cradle  at  hame  be  the  fairer  spread  up  ;  not  that  I 
am  wishing  ill  to  little  Harry,  or  to  the  babe  that's  yet  to 
be  born — God  forbid — and  make  them  kind  to  the  poor 
and  better  folk  than  their  father  !  And  now,  ride  e'en 
your  ways  ;  for  these  are  the  last  words  ye'll  ever  hear 
Meg  Merrilies  speak,  and  this  is  the  last  reise  that  I'll 
ever  cut  in  the  bonnie  woods  of  Ellangowan.'  " 

He  never  hesitates  to  write  down  their  worst 
characteristics,  but  note  with  what  tender 
solicitude  for  truth  he  gives  "  Meg  Merrilies  " — 


102  The  Tinkler  Gypsies. 

even  though  she  may  have  possessed  all  the 
bad  qualities,  "  harlot,  thief,  witch,  and  Gypsy," 
ascribed  to  her  by  "  Dominie  Sampson  " — her 
due  for  not  visiting  the  iniquities  of  the  father 
upon  little  Harry  or  "  the  babe  that's  yet  to 
be  born." 

To  the  Gypsies'  fidelity  and  steadfastness  of 
purpose,  of  which  many  cases  in  real  life  have 
been  recorded.  Sir  Walter  indirectly  pays  a 
noble  eulogy  in  putting  these  words  into  "  Meg 
Merrilics' ''  mouth  : — 

"  It  is  to  rebuild  the  auld  house — it  is  to  lay  the 
corner-stone — and  did  I  not  warn  him  ?  I  lell'd  him  I 
was  born  to  do  it,  if  my  father's  head  had  been  the 
stepping  stane,  let  alane  his.  I  was  doomed— still  I  kept 
my  purpose  in  the  cage  and  in  the  stocks  ;  I  was  banished 
— I  kept  it  in  an  unco  land  ;  I  was  scourged  —I  was 
branded — my  resolution  lay  deeper  than  scourge  or  red 
iron  could  reach — and  now  the  hour  is  come  ! " 

"  Meg's  "  ability  to  write  is  also  noteworthy. 
Like  the  specimen  of  Billy  Marshall's  signature^ 
•given  in  a  previous  chapter,  her  writing  was — 

"a  vile,  greasy  .scrawl,  indeed — and  the  letters  are 
uncial,  or  semi-uncial,  as  somebody  calls  your  large  text 
hand,  and  in  size  and  perpendicularity  resemble  the  ribs 
of  a  roasted  pig — I  can  hardly  make  it  out." 

The  striking  resemblance  between  the  scenery 
described  in  Guy  Mantierifig  and  that  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Ravenshall  can  scarcely  be 


'■'•  Guy  Mannering^'  Galweglati  Localities.    103 

accounted  for  by  Sir  Walter's  glib  accusation 
against  Gahvegians  of  "  assigning  to 

' airy  nothings 

A  local  habitation  and  a  name.'  " 

Nay  rather,  do  not  Sir  Walter's  own  words, 
written  to  Train  about  Old  Mortality,  lead  one 
to  suppose  that  Sir  Walter  must  have  derived 
intimate  local  knowledge  from  some  source  or 
other  ?^'  : — 

"  That  novel  (Old  A/oitality)  displays  the  same  know- 
ledge of  Scottish  manners  and  scenery,  and  the  same 
carelessness  as  to  the  arrangement  of  the  story  which 
characterise  these  curious  narratives  ( IVaverley  and  Gtiy 
AIanneri)ig).'' 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  note  some  of  the 
principal  local  places  with  which  the  places 
named  in  Guy  Alanne>ing  are  identified  : 
"  Dandie  Dinmont "  is  said  to  have  reached 
"  Portanferry,"  after  "  a  trot  of  sixty  miles  or 
near  by,"  from  Charlieshope  in  Liddesdale,  and 
if  "  Guy  Mannering  "  rode — on  "  Soople  Sam," 
"  a  blood  bay  beast  " — from  Dumfries  to  the 
New  Place  of  Ellangowan  (Barholm)  in  four  or 
five  hours,  which  could  be  easily  accomplished, 
then  the  distances  can't  be  readily  reconciled, 
but  it  is  thciught  that  Creetown,  formerly  called 
the  "  Ferry  Toun  o'  Cree,"  tallies  best  with  the 
story.  As  "  Guy  Mannering "  in  the  early 
pages  of  the  novel  is  made,  on  his  way  from 


\ 


M 


Carsluith    Castle. 
From  a  fine  line  Drawing  by  Mr  .1.  S.  Fleming,  F.S.A.,  Glasgow. 


'■^  Guy  Ma/i/ieriiig"  Galwegian  Localities.   105 

Dumfriesshire,  to  travel  by  winding  passages 
through  '■  a  wide  tract  of  black  moss,"  eventually 
approaching  the  sea  beach  and  had  passed 
"  Kippletringan  '"  ere  he  reached  "  Ellangowan," 
it  would  seem  that  Gatehouse  is  the  place  which 
corresponds  most  closely  to  "  Kippletringan," 
-which  lay  to  the  "  eassel "  of  "  Ellangowan," 
and  enjoyed  the  dignity  of  having  an  Inn  and  a 
Mason's  Lodge,  but  some  consider  that  Kirk- 
cudbright most  nearly  fits  in  with  Sir  ^^'alter's 
description. 

Undoubtedly  the  description  of  the  actual 
building  of  "  Ellangowan  "  tallies  most  exactly 
with  Caerlaverock  Castle,  Dumfriesshire,  and 
while  neither  Carsluith  Castle  nor  Barholm 
Castle  has  "  a  front  like  a  grenadier's  cap,"  or  is 
situated  on  "a  promontory  or  projection  of 
rock,"  or  has  a  "  Donagild's  (Murdoch's)  round 
tower,"  yet  the  former  was  the  castle  of  the 
Browns  —  Harry  Bertram  having  as  an  alias 
"  Vanbeest  Brown,"  and  the  story  of  his  wander- 
ings being  founded  on  a  tradition  about  the 
smuggling  of  a  child  belonging  to  that  family 
— and  the  latter  was  the  stronghold  of  the 
M'Cullochs.  It  is  claimed  by  some  that  the 
story  of  Harry  Bertram's  wanderings  is  founded 
on  a  tradition  about  a  descendant  of  the 
Maxwells  ot  Orchardton,  but  in  the  days  of  1 
smuggling  the  mysterious   disappearance  of  an 


s.     ^        1 06  The  Tt/ikkr-Gypsies. 

I  heir  seems  to  have  been  a  fashionable  and 
rough-and-ready  way  of  obtaining  possession 
of  an  estate — for  seemingly  there  is  also  a 
similar  tradition'  about  the  Browns  of  Car- 
sluith  :— 

"The  incident  of  the  kidnapped  heir  happened  to  the 
old  family  of  Brown  of  Carsluilh,  now  extinct  in  the  male 
line.'' 

"  Donagild  "  (Donegan  O'Dowill)  is  a  name 
which  relates  not  to  the  Caerlaverock  family,  but 
to  the  M'Doualls.  Sir  Walter  rightly  causes  the 
Browns  of  Carsluith  to  be  related  to  the 
M'CuUochs,  who  in  turn  were  related  to  the 
M'Doualls  of  r.arthland.  Here  is  Harry 
'  Bertram's  pedigree  as  taken  from  Guy  Maiiner- 
ing:— 

"  Good-night,  colonel — good-night.  Dominie  Sampson 
— good-night,  Dinmont  the  downright — good-night,  last 
of  all,  to  the  new-found  representative  of  the  Bertrams 
and  the  Mac-Dingawaies,  the  Knarths,  the  Arths,  the 
Godfreys,  the  Dennises,  and  the  Rolands,  and,  last  and 
dearest  title,  heir  of  tailzie  and  provision  of  the  lands 
and  barony  of  Ellangowan,  under  the  settlement  of  Lewis 
Bertram,  Esq.,  whose  representative  you  are.' 

And  on  referring  to  Nisbet's  Heraldry 
p.  250  et  seq.  of  the  Appendix,  and  M'Kerlie's 
Lands  and  their  Owners  in  G:illoway^  vol.  ii., 
p.  453  et  seq.,  it  will  be  found  that  most  of 
these  names  are  traceable  in  the  genealogical 
trees  of  the  M'Doualls  and  M'Cullochs. 


'■'■  Guy  Mannering''  Gaiivegia/i  Localities.    107 

Hence  it  would  seem  to  arise  that  Carsluith 
Castle  and  Barholm  Castle  are  both  claimed 
to  be  the  "  EUangowan  "  of  Guy  Manneriiig, 
Barholm  Castle,  however,  standing  on  a  wooded 
height  overlooking  the  sea,  tallies  best  with 
"  Meg  Merrilies'  "  proclamation  :  — 

"  Dark  shall  he  1 1^,^11 1 

And  wrong  done  to  right 

When  Bertram's  right  and  Bertram's  might 

Shall  meet  on  EUangowan  height." 

Further  resemblances  will  be  found  in  its 
proximity  to  the  rocky  prominence  known  as 
"The  Gauger's  Loup,"  and  in  the  fact  that 
close  to  "The  Ganger's  Loup,"  ahiiost  opposite 
Barholm  Castle  and  half-way  down  the  descent, 
there  still  exists  a  fine  spring  well — correspond- 
ing with — 

"  the  fine  spring  well  about  half-way  down  the  descent, 
and  which  once  supplied  the  castle  with  water." 

A  remarkable  coincidence  is  also  contained 
in  the  statement  : 

"And  several  of  her  tribe  made  oath  in  her  ('  Meg 
Merrilies  ')  behalf  that  she  had  never  quitted  her  encamp- 
ment, which  was  in  a  glen  about  ten  miles  distant  from 
EUangowan." 

The  site  of  that  encampment  would  correspond 
precisely  with  Palnure  Glen,  which,  as  has  been 
shown  in  a  previous  chapter,  was  a  favourite 
rendezvous  of  the  Marshall  gang  and  is  tei\ 
miles  distant  from  Barholm  Castle. 


^i^ 


A^     •'- 


k4.' 


Photo  by  J.  P.  >lilnes. 

"JuLrA  Mannering"  at  "Ellangowan"  CBarholm  CastleX 

From  a  Paintins:  l>y  the  late  Mr  .Tohn  Kae<l.  K.S.A.    The  oriinnal  is  in  the  roesession 
of  the  represeiitatiTes  of  the  late  Mr  Waugh.  National  Kink.  Newton- 
Stewart,  l>y  whose  kind  vemiissiou  it  is  here  tvprvxluoeJ. 


'■'■Guy  Ma/i/iering"  Gakvegian  Localities.   109 

Be  it  remembered  also  that  Train  (an  Ayrshire 
man)  was  stationed  at  Newton-Stewart  until  15th 
December,  1820,  five  years  later  than  the  publica- 
tion of  Guy  Ma?inering,  and  any  informatiorr 
supplied  by  him  or  the  M'CuUoch  family  would 
be  far  more  likely  to  refer  to  the  "  Dirk 
Hatteraick's  Cave,"  and  other  places  in  and 
around  Ravenshall,  than  to  the  Torrs  Cave  or 
even  further  afield.  There  are  also  references, 
such  as — 

"  Frank  Kennedy's  Ijeing  away  round  to  Wigtown  to 
warn  a  King's  ship  that's  lying  in  the  bay  about  '  Dirk 
Hatteraick's'  lugger  being  on  the  coast  again,  and  he'll 
be  back  this  day," 

and  about  "  Dirk's  "  lugger  "  standing  across  the 
bay"  which  rather  suggest  the  idea  that  Torrs 
Cave  is  too  far  afield  to  be  the  "  Dirk 
Hatteraick's  Cave  "  of  the  Novel. 

The  tradition*^  as  to  the  fate  of  Supervisor 
Kennedy,  as  recorded  in  Guy  Manneringy 
also  relates  to  the  Ravenshall  district,  and  was 
forwarded  to  Sir  Walter  by  Train.  As 
"Kippletringan"  was  apparently  on  the  same  side 
— the  south-eastern — as  "  Hazlewood  House,"^ 
the  messenger  from  "  EUangowan  "  having 
"  proceeded  to  a  point  where  the  roads  to- 
Kippletringan  and  Hazlewood  separated," 
Ardwall  House  might  fit  in  with  that  descrip- 
tion, and  as  it  also  belonged  to  the  M'CuUoch. 


no  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

family  Sir  Walter  would  be  sure  to  know  all 
about  it. 

In  "The  Derncleugh  "  stood  the  impregnable 
tower  called  "The  Kaim  of  Derncleugh  "  with 
its  vault  wherein  "Meg  Merrilies"  and  "  Domi- 
nie Sampson  "  had  the  interview  so  graphically 
depicted  in  one  of  the  late  Mr  John  Faed's 
sketches  herewith  reproduced  : — 

"  '  Aweel,'  said  Meg,  'but  an  ye  kenn'd  how  it  was 
gotten  ye  maybe  wadna  like  it  so  weel.'  Sampson's  spoon 
dropped  in  the  act  of  conveying  its  load  to  his  mouth." 

"Derncleugh"  is  identified  with  "  The  Cleugh 
Head  "  near  to  Carsluith  Castle.  This  is  a  wild 
and  thickly  wooded  ravine,  and  a  halo  of 
romance  hangs  around  it.  Apparently  when 
Harry  Bertram,  travelling  from  Liddesdale  to 
"  Kippletringan,"  left  "  Dandie  Dinmont  "  and 
proceeded  "across  the  country  "  he  had  travelled 
by  the  hill  road,  and  it  would  be  quite  a  natural 
mistake  for  him  to  stumble,  as  he  did,  in  the 
dark  into  "The  Derncleugh"  (The  Cleugh 
Head),  in  place  of  striking  "The  Nick  o'  Doon." 
And  why  should  not  the  old  Castle  of  Carsluith, 
standing  as  it  does  at  the  lower  end  of  "  The 
Derncleugh  "  (Cleugh  Head),  have  afforded  to 
Sir  Walter  the  idea  of  describing  an  even  more 
ancient  ruin,  which  he  called  "  The  Kaim  of 
Derncleugh  "  as  situated  there  ?  There  is  a 
local  tradition"  associated  with    that  trlen    of  a 


Photo  by  J.  P.  Millies. 

Dominie  Sampson"  and  "Meg  Merrilies"  in  the  Vaul,t  of 
"The  Kaim  of  Derncleugh." 


From  a  Sepia  Sketch  by  the  late  Mr  John  FaeJ,  R.S.A., 
Kindly  lent  by  Mr  James  Faed,  jr. 


112  The  Tinkler-Gypsiis. 

quarrel  between  two  lovers  which  terminated 
fatally,  the  blood-guilty  one  being  tracked  down 
the  ravine  by  his  shoe-shods,  which  in  these 
olden  days  had  been  nailed  on  by  a  blacksmith, 
who  gave  evidence  against  the  guilty  man.  Alas, 
that  lovely  Glen  is  being  ruthlessly  despoiled  by 
having  its  rocky  faces  blasted  to  supply  stones 
for  building  purposes  !  There  is  also  a  further 
tradition'"  about  a  Gypsy  killing  a  woman  near 
Kirkdale  Ikidge.  At  12  o'clock  at  night,  it  is 
said,  the  ghost  of  a  woman  with  half  of  her 
head  cut  off,  and  all  clad  in  white,  appears  at 
Kirkdale  Bridge  and  slowly  wends  its  way  along 
the  road  and  disappears  by  the  wooded  path- 
way leading  to  Kirkdale  Bank.  This  apparition 
is  firmly  believed  in  by  some  folks  in  that  local- 
ity. A  farmer  told  the  writer  that  he  knew  a 
farmer  who  at  any  time  he  had  to  pass  Kirkdale 
Bridge  after  darkness  had  set  in,  used  regularly 
to  put  his  horse  to  the  gallop,  lest  he  should 
be  caught  by  the  ghost.  There  is  also  a  field 
on  a  farm  not  far  from  Barholm  Castle  known 
as  "  Little  Egypt,"  but  when  asked  why  it  was 
so  called,  the  farmer  said,  "  Because  it  is  a  dry, 
barren  place."  Mr  David  MacRitchie,  in  Notes 
and  Queries,  Gypsy  Lore  Journal,  vol.  i.  p. 
53,  shows  that  "  Egypt  "  is  a  place  name  in 
many  districts  frequented  by  Gypsies  ;  and  surely 
it   is   not    without   significance   that    we   should 


"•pORTANFERf? 


Garsluiblv  Village. 
CarsluilhCaslley 

"dirk  hattericks  cave: 


*GAUG  E  R S       L  O  U  P^ 


l^iglon  Bay 


"' G/fV  AIa}inering'^  Localities.  i  13 

have  ''  The  Oypsy  Weil,"  "  The  Gypsy  Burn  "  at 

Carsluith,  and  "  Little  Egypt  "  near  Mossyard, 

and  the  coincidence  should  not  be  so  readily 

accepted  as  accounted  for  by  the  farmer's  simple 

and  quite  natural  explanation,  especially  when 

that    particular    field    is    situated    in    a   district 

which,  in  the  days  when  Billy  Marshall  and  his 

numerous    gang    held    sway,   must    have  been 

greatly  frequented  by  Gypsies,  and  which  to  this 

day   is  a   place   where  Gypsies,   Tinklers,   and 

vagrants  still 

"  Most  do  congregate." 

The  descriptions  of  local  places  are  not  quite 
accurate,  but  are  in  most  cases  sufficiently 
accurate  to  be  recognisable,  and  are  precisely 
what  one  would  expect  to  find  where  such  had 
first  been  accurately  described  by  some  one  who 
knew  the  locality  thoroughly,  to  another  who  did 
not  and  who  had  afterwards  described  them  from 
memory.  Here,  then,  in  this  comparatively  iso- 
lated and  romantic  corner,  at  a  time  when  the 
country  folks  were  much  more  superstitious  than 
they  are  now,  the  Gypsies,  who  were  and  still  are 
most  superstitious,  would  find  a  suitable  place  T 
for  practising  their  black  arts.     "  Meg  Merrilies,"  ' 

i 
"  the    Galwegian    sibyl,      .      .     .     wha    was    the    maist 

nDtorious  witch  within  a'  Galloway  and  Dumfriesshire,"  , 

would  be  able  to  overawe  the  whole  country  side  \ 

I 

'•\\i  glamour,  cantrip,  charm,  and  spell.  ' 


!''■'"''■'  ''J'  TORSS  Cave. 


A.  M'Cormiik. 


Tinkkr-Gypsy  Charactei-istics.  115 

The  Galloway  Tinklers  are  still  most  super- 
stitious. They  will  turn  back  if  they  meet  a 
"gley-eyed"  woman  when  setting  out  in  the 
morning.  A  flat-footed  person  is  so  unlucky  that 
they  won't  tolerate  one  inside  the  door.  Once 
when  a  Tinkler  woman  told  that  to  the  writer 
hereof,  he  looked  down  at  his  feet,  and  she  said, 
"  I  noticed  ye  werena  fiat-fitted  whun  ye  cam' 
forrit  to  the  door."  "  But,"  says  an  old  Tinkler, 
"  the  sonsiest  thing  on  this  yirth  is,  gin  ye're 
Jawin'  avri  (going  away)  to  the  t'ither  watches 
(another  beat)  in  the  morgen  (morning)  wi'  a 
yucal  o'  mashlam  (dozen  of  tin  cans)  on  yer 
back,  and  ye  meet  a  heavy  tramplei'ed  Jiianishi 
(woman)  wi'  a  clQeLw/oredru/?!  (apron)  and  a  big 
back  burden,  ye  may  Jaw  (go)  alang  the  lig 
(road)  for  ye'll  get  bara  iowie  (big  money)  that 
devies  (day)  frae  the  been  hantle  (good  country 
people)." 

They  deem  it  very  lucky  to  be  first-footed  by 
a  donkey  or  a  sheep,  but  particularly  the  former  ; 
indeed,  one  of  the  gang  generally  makes  it 
his  duty  to  lead  the  cuddy  into  the  house  first 
thing  on  New  Year  s  morning.  One  Tinkler 
woman  told  the  writer  hereof  that  all  the  Mar- ' 
shalls  she  ever  knew  believed  in  witches.  When  ; 
asked  why  she  kept  two  little  shoes — a  cuddy's 
and  a  pony's — hanging  behind  the  door,  she  at 
once  replied,  "To  keep  out  the  witches." 


ii6  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

"  But  do  you  really  believe  in  witches?"  was 
next  asked. 

"  Certaintly,  and  wha  had  ever  ony  mair 
reason  to  believe  in  them?"  she  replied,  and 
proceeded  to  tell  a  wonderful  story  of  how  at 
her  birth  a  gentleman  had  foretold  that  she 
would  marry  a  man  of  the  same  name  as  him- 
self (Campbell),  and  how  by  a  remarkable 
coincidence  his  |)rophecy  had  come  true.  Then 
she  added  that  "  a  flat-fitted  or  a  shan-ivinklered 
(bad-eyed)  body  "  was  most  unlucky,  and  related 
this  story  : — "  A  flat-fitted  woman  yince  first- 
fitted  my  mither  on  New  Year's  day  morning ; 
the  mare  foaled  on  the  24th  May ;  it  was  kicked 
to  death  by  a  horse  in  the  field  a  few  days  efter, 
and  the  foal  didna  survive  it  mony  days  "  ! 

Frequently  has  the  writer  heard  of  the  death 
of  animals  accounted  for  in  that  way.  Once 
he  heard  a  tale  that  shows  the  elasticity 
of  the  Tinklers'  belief  in  superstitions  :  In 
Wigtownshire  an  old  woman  with  a  gley 
eye  had  looked  at  a  Tinkler's  bairn.  The 
Tinklers  were  travelling  towards  Dumfriesshire. 
The  child  cried  all  the  way  to  Dumfries,  when 
another  old  woman  looked  at  the  child, 
and  at  once  said — "  That  wean  has  been 
owerlookit."  She  advised  them  to  take  it 
back  to  the  first  old  woman,  but  the  mother 
being   a    Catholic    took    it    to    the    priest,   and 


Dirk  Hatteraicks  Cave,  Ravenshall. 


From  a  Painting  l.y  Mr  James  Faei,  sair.,  taken  by  the  aid  of  a  flambeau  within 
the  interior  of  the  Cave  upwanls  of  forty  years  ago. 


ii8  The  Thikler-Gypsies. 

the  father  being  a  Protestant  beat  the  wife 
unmercifully,  as  they  still  seem  to  think  the\- 
are  entitled  to  do,  "  like  the  chief  of  the  horde 
who  acknowledged  he  had  corrected  her  ('  Meg 
Merrilies ')  with  a  whinger."  The  husband 
got  h's  own  way,  and  took  the  child  to  the  first 
old  woman  to  withdraw  the  spell  she  had  cast 
over  the  child.  The  Tinklers  had  not  long 
left  her  when  "  the  wean  a'  at  yince  drappit 
greetin',  and  the  mare,  lang  by  her  time,  at  the 
same  meenit  drapt  a  foal ""  I  So  the  Tinklers 
of  to-day  cling  to  many  of  the  traits  ascribed 
to  "  Meg  Merrilies." 

Tradition"  has  it  that  "  Flora,"  one  of  Billy's 
many  dulcineas,  whose  maiden  name  appears 
to  have  been  P'loia  Maxwell,  "  was  so  very 
transparently  fair  of  the  complexion  that  one 
could  see  a  glass  of  (red)  wine  go  down  her 
throat."  Mr  David  MacRitchie,  in  his  Ancient 
and  Afodern  Briio/is,*'^  states  that  it  was  a 
Gypsy  who,  to  Mr  Groome,  ascribed  a  similar 
compliment  to  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  and  that 
it  was  also  a  Gypsy  who  ascribed  the  same 
peculiarity  to  Fair  Rosamond. 

In  the  additional  note  to  Guy  Manuerin<:;, 
Sir  Walter  relates  the  following  story  of  liilly 
Marshall,  which — who  knows? — may  even  have 
been  included  amongst  the  Gypsy  stories  sent 
to  him  by  Train  prior  to  publication  of  the  first 
edition  of  Guv  Mnnnen'/n:; : 


Billy  befriends  a  Friend  in  Need.      1 1 9 

"  In  his  youth  he  occasionally  took  an  evening  walk  on 
the  highway,  with  the  purpose  of  assisting  travellers  by 
relieving  them  of  the  weight  of  their  purses.  On  one 
occasion,  the  Caird  of  Barullion  robbed  the  Laird  of 
Bargally  at  a  place  between  Carsphairn  and  Dalmelling- 
ton.  His  purpose  was  not  achieved  without  a  severe 
struggle,  in  which  the  Gypsy  lost  his  bonnet,  and  was 
obliged  to  escape,  leaving  it  on  the  road.  A  respectable 
farmer  happened  to  be  the  next  passenger,  and  seeing 
the  bonnet,  alighted,  took  it  up,  and  rather  imprudently 
put  11  on  his  head.  At  this  instant  Bargally  came  up  with 
some  assistants,  and  recognising  the  bonnet,  charged  the 
farmer  of  Bantoberick  (  PBarstoberick)  with  having  robbed 
him,  and  took  him  into  custody.  There  being  some  like- 
ness between  the  parties,  Bargally  persisted  in  his  charge, 
and  though  the  respectability  of  the  farmer's  character 
was  proved  or  admitted,  his  trial  before  the  circuit  court 
came  on  accordingly.  The  fatal  bonnet  lay  on  the  table 
of  the  court  ;  Bargally  swore  that  it  was  the  identical 
article  worn  by  the  man  who  robbed  him  ;  and  he  and 
others  likewise  deponed  that  they  had  found  the  accused 
on  the  spot  where  the  crime  was  committed,  with  the 
bonnet  on  his  head  The  case  looked  gloomily  for  the 
prisoner,  and  the  opinion  of  the  judge  seemed  unfavour- 
able. But  there  was  a  person  in  court  who  knew  well 
both  who  did  and  who  did  not  commit  the  crime.  This 
was  the  Caird  of  Barullion,  who,  thrusting  himself  up 
to  the  bar,  near  the  place  where  Bargally  was  standing, 
suddenly  seized  on  the  bonnet,  put  it  on  his  head,  and, 
looking  the  laird  full  in  the  face,  asked  him,  with  a  voice 
which  attracted  the  attention  of  the  court  and  crowded 
audience — '  Look  at  me,  sir,  and  tell  me,  by  the  oath 
you  have  sworn — am  not  /  the  man  who  rcjbbed  you 
between  Carsphairn  and  Dalmellington  ? '  Bargally 
replied,  in  great  astonishment,  '  By  Heaven,  you  are  the 
very  man.'  'You  see  what  sort  of  a  memory  this  gentle- 
man has,'  said  the  volunteer  pleader :  '  he  swears  to  the 
bonnet,  whatever  features  are  under  it.  If  you  yourself, 
my  Lord,  will  put  it  on  your  head,  he  will  be  willing  to 
swear  that  your  lordship  was  the  party  who  robbed  him 


I20  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Letween  Carsphnirn  and  Dalmellinglon.'  The  tenant  of 
Bantoberick  (Barstoberick)  was  unanimously  acquitted, 
and  thus  Willie  Marshall  ingeniously  contrived  to  save 
an  innocent  man  from  danger  without  incurring  any  him- 
self, since  Bargally's  evidence  must  have  seemed  to  every 
one  too  fluctuating  to  be  relied  upon. 

"While  the  King  of  the  Gypsies  was  thus  laudably 
occupied,  his  royal  consort.  Flora,  contrived,  it  is  said, 
to  steal  the  hood  from  the  judge's  gown  ;  for  which 
offence,  combined  with  her  presumptive  guilt  as  a  Gypsy, 
she  was  banished  to  New  England,  whence  she  never 
returned." 

Strange  to  say,  there  is  a  somewhat  similar 
tradition  —  common  amongst  the  Galloway 
Tinklers  at  this  day — which  relates  how  Billy 
intervened  in  Court  and  got  off  a  prisoner  in  an 
even  more  wonderful  way.  The  resemblance  of 
the  two  stories  is  noteworthy,  and  it  would  be 
interesting  to  discover  in  what  words  Joseph 
Train  first  related  the  story  recorded  by  Sir 
Walter.  The  following  is  the  tndiiion  narrated 
to  the  writer  hereof  by  a  Galloway  Tinkler  :  — 

"  Billy  Marshall  and  several  of  liis  gang  had  l)een  out  on 
a  foraging  expedition  with  some  other  Gypsy  gangs.  They 
had  killed  a  cow,  and  Billy  had  sent  his  comrades  off  l)y 
finother  road  to  his  camp  with  his  'corner'  of  the  cow. 
Solitarily  wending  his  way  home  to  the  encampment,  he 
met  in  with  a  gamekeeper  who  had  formerly  attempted 
to  have  him  imprisoned  for  poaching.  Billy  settled  old 
scores  by  killing  the  gamekeeper.  He  then  pitched  him 
over  a  dyke,  but  when  the  gamekeeper  lay  there  it  occurred 
to  Billy  that  his  own  coat  was  not  so  good  as  the  game- 
keeper's, lie  therefore  exchanged  coats  and  left  his  own 
one  l)ing  on  the  dyke.  As  his  camp  had  been  situated 
at  some  considerable  distance,  he  thontrlit  it  advisable  to 


h-f 


rK^^" 


A  Modern  "Meg  Mfrrilies'' 


122  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

spend  the  niglit  in  a  ccjmmon  lodgint^-house  in  a  village. 
He  left  the  gamekeeper's  jacket  hanging  on  the  back  of 
a  chair  and  then  went  to  sleep.  Billy  had  not  long  left 
the  spot  where  he  had  left  the  gamekeeper's  body  lying, 
when  along  came  a  tramp,  who  espied  Billy's  own  coat 
lying  on  the  dyke,  looked  at  it,  and  thinking  it  better 
than  his  own  also  promptly  made  an  exchange.  The 
tramp  happened  to  hit  upon  the  same  lodging-house  as 
Billy.  The  tramp  was  early  astir  in  the  morning,  and 
seeing  the  gamekeeper's  coat  hanging  on  ihe  back  of  the 
chair,  he  coveted  it,  donned  it,  and  was  soon  hurrying 
along  the  road,  having  luckily  for  Billy  left  him  in  pos- 
session of  his  own  coal.  The  tramp  had  not  gone  far 
when  two  'beagles'  (policemen)  from  Dumfries  arrested 
him.  He  was  taken  before  the  Circuit  Court  at  Dum- 
fries, and  confronted  with  the  damning  evidence  that 
whilst  he  was  wearing  the  gamekeeper's  coat  when 
arrested,  his  own  garment,  as  was  clearly  proven,  was 
found  lying  on  the  dyke  beside  the  murdered  man.  The 
tramp  told  a  plain,  straightforward  story  :  He  had  been 
coming  along  the  road,  saw  a  coat  lying  on  the  wall,  and 
thinking  it  better  than  his  own  had  exchanged  it  ;  and 
had  done  the  same  in  the  lodging-house.  Nevertheless 
his  guilt  seemed  established.  But  from  the  back  of  the 
Court  there  stepped  down  a  man  rigged  out  in  a  long  blue 
coat,  with  huge  silver  buttons,  and  knee-breeks.  Salut- 
ing the  judge  with  a  military  salute,  he  said  —  'I  crave 
yer  honour's  pardon.  May  I  ha'e  a  word  wi'  the  Coort  ? 
I  was  comin'  alang  the  road  jist  in  the  same  way  as 
my  unfortunate  freen  here,  an'  I  too  saw  a  better  coat 
than  my  ain  lyin'  on  the  dyke,  an'  put  it  on  and  left 
this  ane  (holding  up  an  old  coat)  lyin'  on  the  dyke. 
An'  my  freen  here  maun  ha'e  picked  it  up,  for  whun 
I  lay  doon  at  nicht,  I  left  the  gude  coal  lyin'  on  the 
chair,  an'  I  see  noo  hoo  I  come  to  fin'  my  ain  aul' 
yin  in  its  place  in  the  morr.in'.  He  maun  hae  cheatit 
me  oot  o'  the  gude  coal  I  fun"  !  ^'e  may  sen'  baith  o' 
us  to  Botany  Bay  for  stealin'  a  coat  we  fun'  on  the 
road,  but  a'  the  Coorts  in  the  land  daurna  rax  oor  gorgets 
(hang  us)  for  murderin'  a  man  we  never    saw.'       Billy, 


'^Giiy  Mannering''  Localiiy.  123 

with  Gypsy  cuteness,  had  grasped  the  situation,,  and* 
had  risked  a  little  to  befriend  the  tramp  he  had 
placed  in  an  awkward  predicament.  The  tr.inip 
was,  needless  to  say,  unanimous])-  acquitted  liy  the  jury. "^ 

In  that  romantic  district  which  lies  along 
what,  it  is  said,  was  described  to  her  late 
Majesty  Queen  Victoria  as — 

"  The  most  beautiful  shore  road  in  Britain," 

and  amongst  folks  of  a  superstitious  turn  of 
mind,  Sir  Walter  fittingly  laid  the  scene  of  the 
most  popular  Gypsy  tale  ever  written.  In  almost 
every  letter  addressed  to  Joseph  Train,  he  kept 
asking  him  for  Galloway  tradition*;,  and  to  Sir  " 
Walter's  honour  be  it  said,  no  one  could  have 
made  more  generous  acknowledgment  of 
Train's  invaluable  services  : — *' 

"  Well,  Mr  Train,  you  never  run  out  of  excellent 
stories.  You  should  really  publish  a  collection  of  them. 
I  will  assist  you  to  prepare  them  for  the  press.  You 
know  one  good  turn  deserves  another  ;  you  have  helped 
me  ;  it  is  now  my  turn  to  help  you.  From  my  influence 
with  the  booksellers,  I  will  assure  you  of  two  or  three 
hundred  pounds.  Vou  may  even  publish  some  of  the 
stories  you  sent  nie  ;  the)-  are  not  the  worse  of  having 
passed  through  my  hands,  as  I  disguise  them  for  reasons 
you  well  know." 

But  no  matter  though  every  panicle  of  the 
information  contained  in  Guy  Manueriiig  had 
been  furnished,  in  draft  or  otherwise,  by  Train 
or  Captain  and  Mrs  Thomas  Scott,  Sir  \\'alter's 
most  precious  legacy  to  the  world — that   touch 


12  4  The  Tuik/cr-  G )  'psies. 

of  genius  which  transformed  the  other  raw 
materials,  in  passing  through  the  crucible  of  Sir 
\\'alter's  brain,  into  his  matchless  novels — was 
clearly  all  his  own,  and  no  one  can  possibly  filch 
that  from  him. 

No  one  knew  better    than  Sir  AA'alter    Scott 


I'y  "Dirk   HATTERAlCKd  "  (Yawkins'  PiiTOL.  Ill- .1.  imnn. 

The  aliove  iiistol  forinevly  IjcloiiKeil  to  thf  late  ]\Ir  .loseiili  Train,  anil  it  is 

reproduced  liere  liy  kind  permixsion  of  one  of  his  grand-daughters, 

Jlrs  Dunn,  ('astle-J)ouglas,  to  whom  it  now  belongs. 

that  there  were  inaccuracies  and  discrepancies 
in  his  desc-ription  of  the  locality,  and  Sir  Walter 
was  therefore  too  astute  to  tie  himself  down  to 
any  particular  locality  ;  but  his  descriptions, 
nevertheless,  tally  remarkably  with  the  Ravens- 
hall  district.  The  family  names  used  in  the 
[)lot    of   Guv  Maiiueriiii:;.  the  traditions  woven 


Characf''rs,  c^'c,  of  "  Guv  Alaiuiering^.'''    125 

into  it,  the  aptness  of  the  descriptions  of  places 
and  characters,  and  the  sources  from  which 
such  information  was  derived — all  point  to  the 
Ravenshall  district  as  the  one  which  Sir  ^^'alter 
had  most  prominently  in  mind  when  he  wrote 
Guy  Mannering ;  and,  on  the  whole,  less  objec- 
tion can  be  urged  against  the  Ravenshall  district 
than  any  other  claiming  the  honour  of  being  the 
principal  scene  of  Guy  Mannering. 

Keeping  in  view,  then,  the  aptness  of  Scott's 
descriptions  to  the  Ravenshall  locality  and  to 
the  Galloway  Gypsies,  and  the  sources  from 
which  that  information  is  supposed  to  have  been 
derived,  is  it  unreasonable  to  conclude  that 
Guy  Mannering  is  the  outcome  of  a  composite 
knowledge  of  (first)  what  Sir  ^^'alter  may  have 
known  from  personal  acquaintance  with  the 
Yetholm  Gypsies — Madge  Gordon,  from  whom 
the  portrait  of  "  Meg  Merrilies'"  avowed  proto- 
type Jean  Gordon  was  partially  drawn,  amongst 
the  number — and  with  Caerlaverock  Casde;  and 
of  (second)  what  he  may  have  learned,  from 
Joseph  Train  and  the  M'CuUoch  family,  of  the 
Galloway  Gypsies —Billy  and  Flora  Marshall 
amongst  the  number — and  of  Barholm  Castle 
and  "  Dirk  Hatteraick's  Cave,"  and  the  other 
Galwegian  localities  around  Ravenshall  ? 


CHAPTER   IV. 


'■'  Hast  thou  not  noted  on  the  bye- way  side, 
Where  aged  saughs  lean  o'er  the  lazy  tide, 
A  vagrant  crew,  far  straggled  through  the  glade. 
With  trifles  busied,  or  in  slumber  laid  ; 
Their  children  lolling  round  them  on  the  grass. 
Or  pestering  with  iheir  sports  the  patient  ass? 
The  wrinkled  beldame  there  you  may  espy. 
And  ripe  young  maiden  with  the  glossy  eve, 
IMen  in  their  prime,  and  striplings,  darlTand  dun, 
jScathed  by  the  storm,  and  freckled  by  the  sun  : 
Their  swarthy  hue,  and  mantle's  flowing  fold, 
\JBespeak  the  remnant  of  a  race  of  old  ; 
Strange  are  their  annals  ! — list  and  mark  them  well  — 
For  thou  hast  much  to  hear  and  I  to  tell." 


HE  Marshalls  are  said  to  have  been 
Tinklers  in  Galloway  '•  time  otit  of 
mind,"  but  as  no  regular  annals  of 
Billy's  house  were  kept,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  trace  them  back  further 
than  his  own  time.  Pitcairii^s 
Criminal  Trials  reveal  nothing,  and  thereafter 
there  is  a  hiatus  (which  covers  the  earlier  part 
of  Billy's  long  lifetime)  during  which  it  is  difficult 
to  consult  the  records.  Hume's  Commentaries 
show  that  members  of  the  Marshall  gang  have 
frequently  appeared  in  criminal  cases.  The 
crimes  libelled  in  some  of  these  are  character- 
istic :  "Stealing  a  horse,"  "stealing  from  a 
thief,"  "  prison  breaking." 


Galwegian  Gypsy  Gangs.  127 

In  Billy's  day  many  Gypsy  gangs  appear  to 
have  frequented  Galloway.  The  principal  gangs 
were  Baillies,  Millers,  Kennedies,  MacMillans, 
Marshalls,  Watsons,  Wilsons,  and  O'Neills. 
The  Marshalls,  MacMillans,  Watsons,  and  Wil- 
sons still  travel  in  Galloway  ;  and  the  Millers, 
still  numerous  in  the  north  of  England,  fre- 
quently visit  Galloway.  The  Kennedies  have 
recently  died  out  in  Galloway  ;  the  O'Neills  have 
married  into  other  gangs  ;  and  the  Baillies,  of 
whom  there  must  be  many  still  in  Scotland,  do 
not  seem  to  have  frequented  Galloway  for  some 
time.  At  the  time  of  the  Levellers'  rebellion, 
1720,  and  for  some  years  afterwards — 

"  Two  bands  of  Gypsies  infested  the  district  and 
occasioned  great  loss  to  the  inhabitants  by  constantly 
committing  all  sorts  of  depredations.  One  of  them, 
headed  by  Isaac  Miller,  acted  as  fortune  tellers,  tinklers, 
and  manufacturers  of  hornspoons  ;  but  they  lived  chiefly 
by  theft.  The  other,  commanded  by  William  Baillie, 
represented  themselves  as  horse-dealers  ;  but  they  were 
in  reality  horsestealers  and  robbers.  William  Marshall, 
commonly  called  Billy  Marshall,  belonged  to  the  first 
mentioned  party  ;  but,  having  killed  his  chief  at  Maybole, 
who,  he  considered,  was  in  terms  of  too  much  intimacy 
with  his  wife  or  mistress,  Billj  entered  the  army.  He 
afterwards  returned,  however,  and  followed  his  former 
calling."  5" 

But  while  these  various  gangs  as  a  rule 
travelled  by  themselves,  it  often  happened  that 
members  ot  one  gang  encamped  with  another 
gang,  and  a  gang  was  ofte  1  joined   by   Gypsies 


128  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

from  other  districts.  Indeed,  from  the  names 
mentioned  in  some  of  the  old  criminal  trials, 
one  may  infer  that  Billy's  gang  would  often  be  a 
composite  one  ;  and  there  has  also  been  a  good 
deal  of  inter-marriage  between  the  various  gangs. 
In  Mackenzie's  History  of  Gallo7vay,  vol.  ii., 
pp.  401-3  and  433-7,  there  are  some  interesting 
particulars  in. regard  to  members  of  these  gangs. 
The  following  indictment  and  judgment  are 
curious  instances  of  the  brutal  treatment  meted 
out,  in  consonance  with  the  laws  of  the  time,  to 
the  Gypsies  : — 

"  Vou,  John  Johnstone  (better  known  in  Galloway  by 
the  name  of  Jock  Johnstone),  James  Campbell,  Christian 
Ker,  Margaret  and  Isabella  Marshalls,  now  prisoners 
within  the  Tolbooth-  of  Kirkcudbright,  as  vagrants, 
gipsies,  and  sorners,  are  indicted  and  accused  before  the 
quarter  sessions  for  the  Stewartry  of  Kirkcudbright,  at 
the  instance  of  the  procurator-fiscall,  as  being  vagrant 
people  of  no  certain  residence,  guilty  of  theft,  pickery, 
and  sorners  and  oppressors  of  the  country,  and  so 
common-nauseances,  and,  therefore,  ought  to  be  punished, 
in  terms  of  the  acts  of  parliament  made  against  sorners, 
vagrants,  Egyptians,  &c. 

"Quarter  Sessions,  Kirkcudbriglit,  7th  of  March, 
1732. — Campbell  acknowledges  that  he  has  no  certain 
place  of  residence,  but  goes  up  and  down  the  country 
making  spoons  and  mending  pans.  Johnstone  acknow- 
ledges that  he  has  no  certain  place  of  residence,  but  goes 
up  and  down  the  country  the  same  way  as  Campbell. 
Margaret  and  Isabell  Marshalls  alledge  they  live  in  the 
parish  of  Stratown,  but  cannot  condescend  upon  the 
name  of  the  place,  and  the  whole  four  acknowledge  they 
passed  the  boat  of  Tongland  Sundays  night  last,  and 
stayed  in  a  wast  house  near  the  Grenny  ford  all  night. 


Perseattion  of  Gypsies.  129 

and  that  they  lodged  in  a  barn  in  the  park  of  Balgreedan, 
near  John  Grears,  on  Mondays  night,  and  the  two  men 
acknowledge  that  they  kept  two  durks  or  hangers  that 
they  had  for  defending  of  their  persons.  (Signed)  Geo. 
Gordon,  J.P.J. 

"  Eodem  die. — The  Justices  of  Peace  having  advised 
the  indictment  and  judicial  acknowledgments  of  the 
within  named  vagrants,  they  find  they  are  persons  of  no 
certain  residence,  nor  of  any  lawful!  employments,  and 
that  they  are  such  persons  as  by  the  law  are  described  for 
Egyptians,  vagrants,  and  sorners  ;  and,  therefore,  the 
justices  of  peace  ordain  them  to  be  burnt  on  the  cheeks 
severally,  whipped  on  their  naked  shoulders,  from  one 
end  of  the  Bridge  end  of  Dumfries  to  the  other  by  the 
hangman,  and  that  upon  the  fifteenth  day  of  March 
instant,  and  all  this  upon  the  charge  of  the  Stewartry, 
which  the  collector  of  supply  is  hereby  ordered  to 
disburse,  and  after  said  punishment  is  inflicted,  the  said 
vagrants  are  hereby  banished  out  of  this  Stewartry  for 
ever,  with  certification,  if  ever  they  be  found  in  the 
Stewartry  thereafter,  that  they  shall  be  imprisoned  six 
months  and  whipped  once  a  month,  and  thereafter  burnt 
on  the  cheeks  of  new.— (Signed)  J.  P.  Gordon,  J.P.J. 

■'  And  the  quarter  sessions  recommend  and  committ  to 
John  Neilson  of  Chappell,  William  Coupland  of  Collies- 
toun,  John  Dalyell  of  Fairgirth,  or  any  one  of  them  to 
see  the  before  sentence  put  into  lawful  execution.  — 
(Signed)  Geo.  Gordon,  J.P.J." -'i 

The  crimes  charged  in  the  itidictment  are  not 
borne  out  by  the  evidence  led,  and  the  finding 
of  the  Quarter  Sessions — that  the  accused  are 
"  persons  of  no  certain  residence  nor  of  any 
lawful  employments,  and  that  they  are  such 
persons  as  are  by  law  described  for  Egyptians, 
vagrants,     and    sorners " — shows     how    unduly 

9 


130  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

keen  the  judges  were  to  obtain  an  excuse  for 
persecuting  the  Gypsies,  and  was  merely  a 
flimsy  pretext  for  inflicting  a  brutal  punishment 
which  branded  the  country's  legislators  and 
those  who  carried  out  their  behests  as  inhuman 
wretches.  Such  treatment  created  an  inveterate 
hatred  of  house-dwellers  in  the  heart  of  the 
wild-natured,  freedom-loving  Gypsy.  Little 
wonder  that  they  carried  "  durks  or  hangers  to 
defend  their  persons,"  and  the  following  may  be 
taken  as  not  an  unnatural  outcome  of  the  cruel 
injustice  meted  out  to  them  : — 

"John  Johnstone  was  afterwards  hanged  for  murder 
at  Dumfries  ;  being  a  very  powerful  man,  the  magistrates 
found  great  difficulty  in  putting  his  sentence  into  execu- 
tion. He  is  said  to  have  taken  hold  of  and  broken  ilie 
rope  by  which  he  was  to  be  suspended,  and  to  have 
leaped  from  the  scaffold.  Before  he  could  be  secured  his 
riglit  arm  was  broken.  After  much  exertion  the 
executioner  succeeded  in  throwing  him  off."'''- 

But  even  such  drastic  measures  on  the  part 
of  the  authorities  failed  to  stamp  out  the 
Gypsies  : — 

"  Representation  being  made  to  me  that  severall  houses 
within  this  stewartry  have  been  broke  up  in  several  nights 
of  last  week  supposed  to  be  done  by  a  parcell  of  gypsies 
or  vagrants  that  have  been  strolling  through  this  country 
grants  warrant  to  Stewart  officers  and  their  assistants  to 
apprehend  and  secure  liie  persons  of  all  gypsies  or  other 
strolling  persons.  Joiix   Dai.vei  1.." 

"  2nd  April,  1750." 


Persuution  of  Gypsies,  13  r 

"3rd  April.  — II.  Carter  in  Trusliill  and  I'airick 
M'Kean  in  l.itlle  AJains  brought  before  me  a  young 
woman,  calls  herself  Ann  Gibson  (or  Marshall),  spouse 
to   William    Hamilton,    a   piper,  in  possession   of  stolen 

goods.  WlIX  GORDONNE." 

"  6  April.  — Complaint,  Fiscal  against  Henry  Greg,  alias 
John  Wilson,  Margaret  Stewart,  his  wife,  Anne  Gibson 
(or  Marshall),  wife  to  Wm.  M'Gregor,  alias  Wm. 
Hamilton,  travelling  tinkers  and  vagabonds  for  house- 
breaking. John  Miller." 

"6  April  1750." 

"  Warrant  for  Apprehension  against  Omer  Brown 
Milner,  Bridge  of  Urr,  for  harbouring  the  above. 

"April  1750."  "Tho.  Millkr." 

"  Homer  Brown  liberated  in  attestation  of  Mr  Gordon 
of  Troquhain.  Thomas  Miller."  ^3 

"3  April  1750." 

"  The  prisoners,  Henry  Greig,  Margaret  Stewart,  and 
Anne  Gibson  (or  Marshall),  gave  in  on  the  day  of  trial, 
by  their  procurator,  Roger  Martin,  a  petition  to  the 
Steward,  acknowledging  some  parts  of  the  crimes  charged 
against  them  in  the  indictment,  and  stating,  '  that  in  order 
to  save  the  court  from  farther  trouble,  they  were  willing 
to  subject  themselves  to  transportation  to  any  of  His 
Majesty's  plantations,  never  to  return.'  The  Petition 
having  been  openly  read,  the  Procurator  Fiscal  (Mr 
Miller)  consented  to  the  prayer  of  it,  '  so  far  as  concerned 
Margaret  Stewart  and  Anne  Gibson.  But  so  far  as  con- 
cerned Henry  Greig,  alias  John  Wilson,  he  refused  his 
consent  thereto,  looking  upon  it  as  inconsistent  with  his 
duty  to  enter  into  any  compromise  with  so  great  a 
criminal.' 

"  The  judge  having  found  '  the  libel  relevant,  pro- 
ceeded to  name  fifteen  persons  to  pass  upon  the  assise  of 
the  said  Henry  Greig,  alias  John  Wilson.' 

"After  the  public  pro.secutor  had  concluded  his  evidence, 


132  The  Tiiiklt)--Gypsics. 

the  jury  retired,  and  next  day  returned  a  verdict  unani- 
mously finding  the  prisoner  guilty  of  the  crimes  laid  to 
his  charge,  namely,  '  theft,  robbery,  and  housebreaking.' 
'  The  Steward  Depute  then  decerned,  and  adjudged  the 
said  Henry  Greig,  alias  John  Wilson,  to  be  taken  upon 
Friday  the  sixth  day  of  July  next  to  come,  from  the 
tolbooth  of  Kirkcudbright  to  the  ordinary  place  of 
execution  of  the  said  burgh,  and  there  between  the  hours 
of  two  and  four  of  the  clock  of  the  afternoon,  to  be 
hanged  by  the  neck  on  a  gibbet  until  he  should  be  dead, 
and  ordained  all  his  moveable  goods  and  gear  to  be 
escheat  and  inbrought  to  his  majesties  use,  which  was 
pronounced  for  doom. '  "  "^ 

Well  did  the  Gypsies  know  that  the  authorities 
were  bound  by  law— with  or  without  just  cause 
— to  exterminate  them.  Knowing  that  it  was 
well-nigh  impossible  to  obtain  justice  under 
such  unjust  laws,  the  Gypsies  in  many  instances 
cutely  pled  guilty  to  "  some  parts  of  the  crimes 
charged,"  and  craved  to  be  transported,  hoping 
no  doubt  either  to  escape  before  transportation 
or  to  manage  to  secure  a  passage  back  to  this 
country  by  some  merchant  vessel.  The  Town 
Council  records  also  quoted,  pp.  435-437  of 
Mackenzie's  History  of  Gallo^v  M',  show  that  it 
was  necessary  lo  incarcerate  within  the  'I'olbooth 
the  hangman,  John  Nevvall,  before  he  could  be 
persuaded  lo  put  the  jury's  verdict  into  force 
by  hanging  (ireig.  One  can  read  between  the 
lines,  from  Omer  Brown's  kindly  act  and  from 
the  hangman's  reluctance  to  perform  his  duty, 
that  there  were  some  at  all  events  who  recog- 


''^  Cutpurse''  Gypsies  Incarcerated.      133 

nised  that  the    punishment    did    not    "  fit    the 
crime." 

In  Wigtownshire  the  authorities  seem  to  have 
acted  more  humanely.  The  following  is  an 
excerpt  from  the  old  Town  Records  of  Wig- 
town : — 

"  The  Marshall  Gang  of  Tinkers. 

"  Wigioune,  6th  November,  1728. 
"The  qlk  day  .  .  .  ihe  Magistrals,  and  Council!, 
having  receaved  Severall  Complaints  anent  young 
Marshall  and  his  gang  of  thevs  picking  people's  pocketts, 
and  particularly  upon  Mnndaj-  last,  being  the  fair  day  of 
this  Burgh,  there  was  gripped  one  of  the  said  Gang  for 
cutting  purses,  and  putt  in  prisone.  And  Marchall's 
wife  and  two  young  ones  Lykeways  Incarcerate  in  prisone 
as  of  that  Gang.  The  Magistrats  and  Councill  haveing 
brought  before  them  the  sd  old  wife,  shee  Judicially 
acknowledged  that  she  was  the  wife  of  Marchall  that,  was 
hanged,  and  that  all  the  Childreen  in  prisone  with  her 
were  Belonging  to  her  ;  Yrfore  it  is  by  the  sds  Magis- 
trats enacted  That  in  case  any  of  the  inliabitants  of  the 
Burgh  of  Wigtoune  shall  harbour  or  entertain  in  their 
houses  any  of  the  said  Gypsie  gang  in  time  comeing,  or 
any  within  the  borrowland  Belonging  to  the  Burgh,  They 
shal  be  deem'd  art  and  part  in  all  there  Villanies,  and 
fyned  in  the  soume  of  Twenty  pund,  Scots  money,  and 
Imprisoned  three  Days  ;  And  ordaines  this  Act  to  be 
Intimate  at  the  Mercat  Cross  of  Wigtown  and  By  the 
presenter  upon  Sabbath  nixt,  Iinmediatly  after  Divine 
Service  is  over  ;  and  in  the  mean  time  ordaines  the  said 
Gypsie  wife  and  her  Cliildreen  to  be  Drummeil  out  of 
Town,  with  Certificatione  if  ever  they  return  within  the 
Burgh  or  Borrowland  they  shall  be  punished  as  the  law 
directs  ;  And  ordaines  the  ofticers  to  putt  them  out  of 
the  paroch  of  Wigtoune  to  the  paroch  of  Peninghame, 
and  to  acquaint  the  adjacent  houses  the  cause  ot  there 


134  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

being  expelled  furih  of  the  said  paroch  ;  And  this  Act  to 
comprehend  all  Sturdie  Beggars  and  oyr  vagrant  persons 
that  cannot  Give  accott  of  themselves,  and  noe  personne 
to  harbour  any  of  the  sd  Gang  above  three  in  number  in 
time  comeing,  under  the  forsd  penalty  and  corpall 
punishment."'"'' 

Can  the  "young  Marshall"  referred  to  be 
our  hero  Billy  Marshall,  who  in  1728  would  be 
about  fifty-six?  If  so,  it  would  seem  as  if  his 
father  had  been  hung,  probably  in  his  case  for 
being  merely  "  habit  and  repute  an  Egyptian  ;" 
whereas  Billy,  notwithstanding  the  many  capital 
crimes  laid  to  his  charge,  always  managed  to 
evade  his  deserts. 

On  2ist  June,  1746,  Sam  Walker  and  Jon 
MacMillan  were  also  convicted  of  having  com- 
mitted a  breach  of  the  peace  at  Wigtown  Fair, 
and  the  sentence  of  the  Court  was  as  follows  : — 

"  Therefore  they  are  ordained  to  remove  themselves, 
and  all  concerned  with  them,  immediately  furth  of  the 
Burgh  and  libertys  of  the  same  for  the  space  of  3  months 
after  this  date  ;  with  certification  if  they,  or  any  of  their 
company  or  gang,  happen  after  the  expiration  of  said 
space  to  come  to  the  place  and  be  guilty  of  misdemeanour 
or  offence  of  any  kind,  they  shall  be  punished  more 
exemplarly  in  their  persons  and  effects,  in  further  terror, 
and  immediately  after  be  incarcerate. "'•''" 

I>ut  the  Wigtownshire  authorities  did  more 
than  act  humanely  ;  they  actually  allowed  a 
Tinkler,  who  murdered  a  boy,  to  escape  out  of 
their  clutches.     There  is  a  tradition  in  W'itrtown- 


Tinkler  Bruiality  and  Slimness.        135 

shire  to  the  effect  that  a  Tinkler  named  Cochrane 
had  been  helping  himself  to  a  farmer's  potatoes 
from  "  the  barn-fauld,"  near  Drumbuie,  when  a 
number  of  school  children,  as  they  passed  along 
the  road,  happened  to  see  him.  The  children 
shouted  out — 

"  Tinkler,  tinkler,  tarrie  bags, 

Drap  yer  shears  and  clip  yer  lags." 

Whereupon  the  Tinkler  ran  after  them  and 
-caught  hold  of  a  little  boy,  Peter  Douglas,  who 
had  been  attempting  to  climb  up  a  tree  for  safety. 
Some  say  "the  Tinkler  took  him  by  the  heels 
and  '  jauped '  out  his  brains  against  the  tree," 
and  others  "that  the  Tinkler  felled  him  with  a 
graipe  with  which  he  had  been  digging  the 
potatoes."  The  tree,  of  which  an  illustration  is 
given,  goes  by  the  name  of  "  The  Boy  Tree," 
and  may  still  be  seen  standing  by  the  side  of 
the  old  road  which  leads  past  Ardachie,  and 
the  Old  Place  of  Drumbuie,  near  Kirkcowan. 
Tradition  also  says  that  a  brother  of  the  Tinkler, 
Cochrane,  was  allowed  to  have  an  interview  in 
the  gaol  with  the  murderer,  and  succeeding  in 
effecting  a  speedy  change  of  garments  enabled 
the  murderer  to  escape.  Tradition  in  this  case 
is  borne  out  by  the  Town  Records  : — 

"  At  Wigtown  the  eighteenth  day  of  June,  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty  four  years,  the 
Magistrates  and  those  of  the  Council  hereto  subscribing 
taking  into  their  consideration  that  Alexander  Cochrane, 


Magisirdfes  Oninntted  by  a  Tinkler.    137 

Travelintj    Tinkler,    was    lately  Incarcerateii   within    the 

Tolbooth  cf  this  Buigh  for  the  alleged  murder  of  Peter 

Douglas,  son  of  George  Douglas  in  Drumhuie  and  that 

there  is  a  great  heazard    of  the   said   Cochrane's    being 

rescued  or  that  he  breake  Prison  it  is  therefore  necessary 

that  a  guard    be  appointed   to   prevent    the   same.     We 

accordingly  hereby  Decern  Ordain  and  strictly- enjoine  all 

the    Inhabitants    and    others    holding  of  the    Borrow  to 

perform     watch    and     ward    upon    the    said     Alexander 

Cochrane  during  all  the  nights  which  he   shall  remain  in 

our  prison  or  till  we  issue  contrary  orders,  and  that  two 

and    two   as   they  shall   be   warned    by  an  officer  for  that 

purpose  and   we  direct   that  the  said   two  persons  shall 

begin  to  guard  precisely  at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  and  shall 

continue  and  not  be  found  off  their  duty  till  five  o'clock 

in  the  morning,  and  tiat  under  the  hi.hest  pains  of  Law 

to  be  inflicted  on  them   and  their  Employers.      And  we 

appoint    this    Act    to    be    intimated    by    Tuck    of  Drum 

this  evening.  ^^  ,„.        ,^     _.  ,,^^,  ^, 

^  (Signed)     James  M'Colm,  Ba. 

,,         John  Hawthorn,  Ba." 

"  At  Wigtown  the  eighth  day  of  July  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  eighty  four  the  Magistrates  and 
Council  considering  that  by  the  inattention  of  Alexander 
Stewart  their  late  Gaoler  and  the  connivance  of  Janet 
Maxwell  his  spouse  Alexander  Cochrane  confined  in  the 
prison  of  this  Burgh  for  alledged  murder  had  made  his 
escape.  Therefore  as  a  punishment  in  the  meantime 
they  appoint  that  no  salary  shall  be  paid  to  the  said 
Alexander  Stewart  either  as  a  (ia^jler.  Bellman,  or 
Officer,  since  Michaelmass  last  and  that  they  be  both 
immediately  taken  from  the  barr  and  ijicareerated  in  the 
Tolbooth  until  tomorrow  morning  at  six  o'clock,  when 
they  are  ordained  again  to  be  set  at  liberty,  and  as  a 
further  marks  of  the  Displeasure  of  the  magistra'es  and 
Council  it  is  declared  that  the  said  Alexander  Stewart 
.shall  be  incapable  of  holding  any  office  under  this  Borrow 
in  time  coming,  and  in  regard  that  by  his  dismission  the 
offices  of  Gaoler,   Bellman,   and   Borrow  Officer  become 


138  The  7 iiikler-Gvpsies. 

vacant,  and  Jcilin  Kennedy,  Indweller  in  VVigtuwn  being 
recommended  as  a  proper  person  to  fill  ihe  said  offices 
the  magi-itrates  and  Council  therefore  appoint  him 
Gaoler,  Bellman,  and  Town  Officer  of  this  Burgh  until 
Michaelmass  next  provided  he  beliaves  properly  and 
complies  with  the  regulations  and  instructions  after- 
mentioned  and  he  is  to  receive  a  salary  as  Gaoler  at 
the  rate  of  Thirty  shillings  yearly,  as  Bellman  at  the 
rate  of  twenty  shillings  sterling  yearly,  and  as  officer  at 
the  ordinary  rate  of  fourteen  shillings  and  fourpence 
yearly  with  the  usual  lees  and  perquisites  of  both  offices 
and  he  is  likewise  appointed  scaffinger  with  liberty  to 
dispose  of  the  Rubbish  and  Dung  for  his  own  emolument. 
And  the  said  [ohn  Kennedy  being  present  accepted  of  the 
said  offices  and  gave  his  oath  de  fideli ;  and  James 
Guihrie  burgess  of  Wigtown  judicially  hereby  becomes 
enacted  and  bound  as  Cautioner  that  the  said  John 
Kennedy  shall  faithfully  duly  and  attentively  execute  and 
perform  the  offices  to  which  he  is  nosv  appointed  ;  and 
the  said  John  Kennedy  is  strictly  enjoined  to  obey  such 
instructions  as  from  time  to  time  he  shall  receive  from 
the  magistrates  in  office  and  particularly  during  the  time 
that  any  Prisoners  are  confined  he  is  not  to  go  to  any 
distance  from  the  town,  and  in  case  of  Criminals  being  in 
prison  he  is  not  to  permitt  any  person  access  to  them 
without  the  permission  of  the  magistrates  and  he  is  to 
Ije  attentive  night  and  day  to  do  his  utmost  to  secure  all 
prisoners  that  may  be  under  his  charge  to  the  utmost  of 
his  power  ;  And  thereby  prevent  the  disgrace  and  expence 
that  has  come  upon  the  town  by  the  negligence  of  his 
predecessor.  In  witness  whereof  this  Minute  signed  by 
the  Magistrates  and  Councillors  present,  as  also  by  the 
said  John  Kennedy  and  James  Guthrie  place  and  date 
first  above  written. 

"  (Si^fi-)  J<^"><'  K'''^'^'KI>V.      (Sgd.)jAS.  M'Coi.M. 
Jas.  Guthrie.  Jas.  Hannah. 

Ro.  Murray.  Alex.  Gulline. 

Pat.  Binxi.xg.  John  M'Carlie. 

RoBT.  Ferguson. "5' 


"  The  Tinkler's  Loi/p."  139 

Truly  the  irreconcilability  of  the  sentences 
pronounced  by  these  ancient  magistrates  is 
amazing  !  In  the  one  county  they  hung  people 
merely  because  they  were  Gypsies,  and  in  the 
adjoining  one  they  only  mulcted  a  gaoler  in 
about  ^£2  9s  8d,  and  put  him  in  gaol  a  night 
for  allowing  a  murderer  to  escape  from  the 
gaol.  The  death  of  the  boy  was  not  the  only 
loss  to  the  family,  for  on  their  tombstone  in 
Kirkcowan  graveyard  will  be  found  engraven 
these  pathetic  words  :— 

"  Of  Peter  Douglas  his  younger  brother  who  was  killed 
by  Cochrane  the  Tinkler  in  the  Barnfauld  of  Drumbuie 
June  1784  aged  11  years.  His  death  may  be  said  to  have 
brought  on  his  mother's  through  grief." 

A  picturesque  gorge  on  the  river  Dengh,  near 
Dairy,  goes  under  the  name  of  "  The  Tinkler's 
Loup,"  the  name  being  derived  from  a  tradition 
about  a  Tinkler,  who  being  chased  for  some 
misdemeanour  jumped  the  linn.  There  are  two 
ways  of  the  story.     This  is  one  account :  — 

"  Here  is  the  '  Tinkler's  Loup,'  where,  according  to 
tradition,  long  before  any  bridge  was  built  over  the 
stream,  and  about  a  century  ago,  a  certain  Tinkler,  by 
name  Thomas  (Marshall),  made  a  fearful  leap  and 
actually  cleared  the  entire  river  at  a  bound.  It  is  said 
that  the  man  was  '  wanted '  by  the  authorities  for  some 
theft,  and  that  a  party  of  dragoons  was  sent  to  take  him. 
He  had  eluded  them  for  some  days  until  they  chanced  to 
come  suddenly  upon  him  asleep  at  this  spot.  Rushing  at 
him  with  a  loud  shout,  Thomas  was,  of  course,  awakened. 


140  The  Tinkler  Gypsies. 

and,  d;^shing  at  l!ie  narrowest  part  of  the  river,  he  cleared 
the  boiling  cauldron  at  a  bound,  his  would-be  captors,  of 
course,  never  seeing  him  again.'" 

But  the  more  popular  account,  and  the  one 
related  on  the  spot  by  a  native,  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  A  Tinkler  who  had  been  mending  cans  for  a  farmer 
named  M'Cormick  at  the  farm  of  Xether  Cairnminnow, 
near  the  Tinkler's  Loup — (this  was  before  the  bridge  was 
built  at  the  place) — became  wearied  of  waiting  for  his 
supper.  Frizzling  on  the  fire  was  a  '  pan  o'  pudc'in's,' 
too  tempting  tor  resistance.  -Seizing  his  opportunity 
when  the  gudewife  had  left  tlie  kiiclien,  the  Tinkler 
sprang  to  the  fire,  and  rushed  off  with  the  '  pan  o' 
puddin's,'  making  straight  for  the  linn.  The  hue  and  cry 
of  the  farm-house  was  soon  at  his  heels,  but  his  start  was 
sufficient,  and  his  courage  equal  to  the  emergency.  '  lie 
lowpit  owre  there,'  said  the  relater — pointing  to  the  linn 
—  '  wi'  the  pan  o'  puddin's  in  his  teeth,  sat  doon  on  that 
rock  and  ate  them,  and  then  he  threw  back  the  pan  to 
the  owners  and  went  his  way.'  "  " 

Presumably  it  was  the  same  Thomas  Marshall 
who  was  the  hero  of  the  song  "  Galloway  Tarn," 
and  who  is  .said  to  have  been  a  "stout  and 
athletic  Galwegian  Gypsy  equally  celebrated  for 
making  songs,  snuff  mills,  and  horn-spoons. 
Some  of  his  descendants,  it  is  said,  still  (/.f., 
circa  1819)  inhabit  Nithsdale  and  Galloway."'"* 

Of  the  gangs  which  frequented  Galloway 
during  the  i8th  century,  and  have  since  ceased 
to  travel  that  district,  some  note  must  be  taken 
of  the  Kilmaurs  branch  of  the  Marshalls  and  the 
Kennedies. 


Tlie  Kil'jiaurs  JMarshalls.  141 

The  Marshalls — The  Horners  of 

KiLMAURS.* 

The  Marshall  family  has  been  located  in 
Kilmaurs,  Ayrshire,  between  200  and  300  years. 
They  have  often  heard  of  Billy  Marshall  from 
their  travelling  relatives,  but  there  is  no  personal 
knowledge  of  him  in  the  family  so  far  as  is 
known.  Francis  Marshall,  the  father  of 
Malcolm  Marshall,  Stewarton,  was  married 
twice,  each  time  to  his  full  cousin.  He  had 
fourteen  of  a  family  by  his  first  wife,  and  ten  by 
the  second.  Malcolm  belongs  to  the  second 
family.  His  full  brothers  were  Rab  Jock,  and 
Davock.  Rab  and  Djvock  wrought  regularly  at 
the  spoons  in  Kilmaurs.  The  former  was  quite 
an  artist  in  horn,  and  for  his  wares  there  was 
always  a  good  demand.  Davock  and  Rab's 
wife  hawked  the  spoons  at  Kilmarnock  Cross 
every  market  day  so  long  as  they  lived.  Their 
figures  were  very  familiar  to  the  present  genera- 
tion of  farmers,  but  they  left  no  representative 
of  the  industry.  Jock  gave  up  spoons  and 
became  a  mason's  labourer. 

x\  curious  characteristic  is  the  "  roughie 
paws "    (g,    guttural),    which,    however,    is    not 

*Notc. — For  the  information  embodied  herein  about 
the  Kihnaurs  Marshalls  we  are  indebted  to  the  kindness 
of  Mr  D.  M'Naught,  J.  1'. ,  Benrig,  Kilmaurs,  Ayrshire, 
who  in  turn  received  his  information  chiefly  from 
Malcolm  Marshall,  Stewarton,  Ayrshire. 


Davock  Marshall  (    Roughie  Paws"),  the  last  of 
THE  KiLMAURS  Horner?. 


Keproiluceci  by  kiii.l  pi-iinissioii  of  Mr  D.  M'Xautrht,  .T.I'..  BenriR, 
Kilmaurs. 


The  Kilmaurs  Alarshalls.  14J 

present  in  every  member  of  the  family.  Davock 
and  his  full  sister  had  the  peculiarity  very  highly 
developed,  and  so  has  his  son,  but  in  a  less 
degree.  The  palm  of  the  hand  and  the  inside 
of  the  fingers  and  soles  of  the  feet  are  covered 
by  a  cuticle  of  the  consistence  of  horn,  across 
which  run  grooves  corresponding  to  the  knuckles 
and  finger  joints,  to  enable  the  hand  to  be 
closed.  This  is  a  curious  illustration  of 
heredity  originally  acquired  by  external  influ- 
ences, which,  in  this  case,  have  been  the 
soldering  bolt,  contact  with  heated  substances, 
and  exposure  to  the  elements. 

Malcolm  himself  never  wrought  at  spoons. 
He  was  a  country  servant,  and  latterly  a  pack- 
man travelling  through  Arran  and  north  of 
Ayrshire.  His  father,  Francis,  informed  him 
that  his  forebears  wrought  at  the  cutlet y  manu- 
facture in  Main  Street,  Kilmaurs  (Kilmaurs 
was  famous  for  cutlery  at  one  time,  and  hence 
the  proverb  "  xA.s  gleg's  a  Kilmaurs  whittle  "). 
The  whole  family  of  twenty-four  children  were 
born  in  one  bed,  and  twenty-two  of  them  were 
baptised  in  Kilmaurs  Parish  Church.  Francis 
lived  in  same  house  (old  U.P.  Manse,  now 
the  Western  Tavern)  for  42  years.  The  "  tra- 
velling "  Marshalls  from  the  south  of  Scotland 
often  called  at  Malcolm's  father's  house,  and  were 
received  as  equals.     Sometimes  MacMillans  and 


The  Kilmaurs  Marshall s.  145 

Kennedies  called  and  were  received  as  kinsmen. 
The  women  sold  the  spoons.  Francis's  wife  was 
•drowned  one  wild  winter  night  at  Cunninghame- 
head  Mill  when  returning  from  Kilwinning  Fair. 
■Of  the  first  family  of  fourteen  only  one  was  a 
spoonmaker.  Cow  horns  were  mostly  used  in 
the  making  of  these  ;  rams'  horns  are  more 
difificult  to  work,  though  more  durable.  Like 
the  tailors  of  old  who  went  out  to  "whip  the 
cat  "  for  months  at  a  time,  the  Marshalls 
travelled  from  farm-house  to  farm-house  working 
up  the  rams'  horns  for  the  farmers  for  board 
and  so  much  money.  Malcolm  considers  the 
soup-divider  (now  in  the  Dick  Institute)  made 
by  Rah,  and  photo  of  which  is  given,  to  be 
unique  and  a  splendid  specimen  of  the  spoon- 
maker's  art,  as  it  is  difficult  to  find  a  ram's  horn 
so  large.  Francis  Marshall  also  made  smooth- 
ing irons,  and  his  name  was  put  on  the  handle 
of  each  ;  and  although  the  Tinkler's  home-made 
smoothing-irons  have  been  superseded  by  the 
Carron  Company's  goods,  some  specimens  of 
Francis's  workmanship  still  exist. 

Malcolm  often  saw  eighteen  of  the  family  sit 
down  to  a  meal.  His  brother  Rab  married 
Janet  Clark  from  Mauchline,  his  double  cousin 
{i.e.,  her  father  was  his  uncle  by  blood,  and  her 
mother  his  aunt  by  blood).  This  is  character- 
istic of  such  people,  and  the  Kilmaurs  Marshalls 

10 


2    3 


=       <       :     —      .2 


g       < 

I      S 


5  o 


—   3 

2^^ 


^     2      .^- 


S      £ 


The  Kilniaiirs  Alarshalls.  147 

are  no  exceptions,  for  they  were  sib  lurd,  and  as 
a  probable  result  many  of  the  Marshalls  have 
weak  eyes  and  cannot  look  up  to  the  light 
unless  with  the  eyes  almost  closed. 

James  Marshall  of  Muirkirk,  Malcolm's  uncle, 
practised  the  tin  manufacture.  An  uncle  in 
Maybole  followed  the  same  trade.  The  mould 
for  shoe  lifts,  as  seen  in  the  illustration,  was  called 
a  "  caulm."  The  "  whorl  "  was  used  with  a 
string  and  bow  to  revolve  the  brad-awl  when 
piercing  handles  for  whistling  spoons.  The 
scrapers  were  called  oo'shaves  (outshaves)  and 
inshaves.  They  made  the  rasp  or  file  them- 
selves from  a  used-up  file  by  striking  on  a  very 
hard  stone  (still  in  existence).  The  mould  for 
soup-divider  was  made  oi  li^i^^nian  vitce. 

Big  Francie,  Jock's  son,  a  factory  operative 
in  Kilmaurs,  showed  his  Gypsy  blood  by  roving 
about  the  parish  with  a  fishing  rod  in  his  hand. 
He  was  a  renowned  fisher  and  "  guddler  "  in 
summer  time  when  the  water  was  low.  Even 
through  the  medium  of  the  post  it  has  been 
possible  to  prove  that  the  Tinkler  cant  was 
known  to  this  branch  of  the  Marshalls. 

The  Kennedies. 

The  Kennedies  are  held  in  kindly  remem- 
brance in  almost  every  farm-house  in  Galloway. 
They  were  said  to  have  hailed  from    Hightae, 


"^-  • 

^»L_^.:^ 

r. 

..^httid 

V 

^IrA 

C3  ^ 


The  Kennedies  (Homers).  149 

Lochmaben,  where  it  is  said  they  claimed  to 
own  property.  They  were  a  dark,  handsome, 
powerfully-built  race,  with  strong  aquiline 
features. 

If  we  go  back  for  half  a  century  the  gang 
then  appears  to  have  consisted  of  the  father 
and  mother,  John  Kennedy  and  Isabella 
Hutchison  or  Kennedy,  three  daughters  named 
Tibbuck,  Janet,  and  Mary,  and  four  sons 
named  Sandy,  John,  Andrew,  and  Rob. 

There  was  also  another  horner  named  Andrew 
Kennedy,  who  travelled  Galloway  at  the  same 
time  as  the  Kennedy  gang,  but  he  usually 
travelled  alone.  Although  he  was  not  much 
older  than  the  sons  and  daughters  above- 
named,  they  always  called  him  "  Uncle  Anra." 
He  appears  to  have  passed  as  a  sort  of  superior 
Tinkler,  and  was  inclined  to  disown  kinship 
with  the  others.  Having  saved  some  money  in 
his  younger  days,  he  arrived  one  day  at  an  out- 
of-the-way  little  inn  where  he  was  unknown.  He 
passed  himself  off  as  a  great  gentleman  and  a 
descendant  of  King  Robert  the  Bruce.  He 
entertained  all  and  sundry  who  came  about  the 
inn,  and  it  was  said  that  even  the  parish  minister 
was  amongst  the  number,  but  one  day  an  evil 
chance  brought  the  Kennedy  gang  along,  and 
one  of  them  popping  his  head  into  a  room 
where  "Uncle  Anra  "  was  busy   entertaining  a 


150  The  Tin k/er- Gypsies. 

number  of  drouthy  cronies,  shouted  out  "  Halloa, 
Uncle  Anra  "  ! 

He  is  said  to  have  had  lair,  yea,  even  to  have 
pretended  to  have  been  educated  for  the  Church 
— and  his  appearance  and  stories  generally 
bore  some  clerical  affinity  !  He  always  wore  a 
tile  hat  and  a  frock  coat,  and  was  known  as 
"  the  preacher,"  or  sometimes  as  "  the  gentle- 
man Tinkler." 

The  men  of  the  gsng  were  all  homers,  and 
basket  and  creel  makers.  Eab  and  his  sisters 
often  travelled  in  company,  but  if  anyone  passed 
them  on  the  road,  they  would  be  found  straggling 
along  at  considerable  distances  from  one  an- 
other. Sometimes  they  had  with  them  a  pony, 
and  two  large  dogs  of  a  half-collie,  half-mastiff 
type.  The  pony  must  have  been  a  good  one. 
The  farmer  at  Ingliston  in  those  days  was  a 
great  horse-breeder,  and  one  day  seeing  the 
Kennedies'  pony,  he  remarked  : 

"  Ve'll  lie  showint^  liini  at  Kirl<ciKll)iii;ht  Show?" 
"  Deed,   ihir,    we're  juiilit    thinking  we  would,"  said 
Andrew. 

"  And  ye'll  lake  a  prize,  too." 

"  Deed  ay,  maithter,  if  there  ilhna  a  better  yin  there." 

It  seems  that  altliough  the  gang  travelled  in 
separate  detachments,  they  had  cither  some 
pre-arrangement  or  system  of  informing  one 
another  where  they  would   be  found  at  stated 


The  Kennedies  (Hornets).  151 

times.  Occasionally  a  Kennedy  would  intimate 
to  a  farmer  with  whom  he  was  staying  that  their 
ranks  would  be  increased.  AVhen  the  gang  met, 
they,  however,  generally  adjourned  to  a  public- 
house,  and  men  and  women  alike  celebrated  the 
occasion  by  having  a  spree.  The  Kennedies 
were  always  fond  of  a  glass.  As  a  rule,  they 
were  nevertheless  moderate  drinkers. 

They  had  the  reputation  of  being  honest,  and 
were  try^ted  everywhere.  It  is  said  that  the 
wife  of  one  of  the  Kennedies  had  been  caught 
pilfering,  and  that  ever  afterwards  her  husband 
gave  her  an  allowance,  and  would  not  permit 
her  to  travel  along  w'ith  him.  It  was  that  same 
w'oman  who  told  a  school  naster's  wife  that  she 
had  been  bitten  by  an  adder.  In  confirmation 
of  the  story  she  exhibited  a  freckled  swollen 
ankle,  and  out  of  pity  for  her,  the  schoolmasters 
wife  collected  and  handed  over  to  her  a  good 
round  sum  of  money.  But  it  turned  out  after- 
wards that  both  ankles  were  alike  swollen  and 
freckled,  owing,  no  doubt,  to  sitting  over  the 
camp  fires. 

They  seem  to  have  had  a  great  affection  for 
one  another.  For  many  years  prior  to  the  death 
of  the  mother  of  the  gang  she  was  blind,  and 
used  to  go  about  leaning  on  her  son  Andrew's 
arm,  and  latterly  it  was  a  humbling  sight  to  see 
that   tall,    handsome    man,    the    outcast    of    a 


152  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Christian  community,  trudging  wearily  along 
roads  or  through  the  heather  to  some  outlying 
farm-house,  carrying  his  decrepit  old  mother 
on  his  back. 

No  one  appears  ever  to  have  learned  from 
them  whether  they  spoke  the  Tinklers'  cant,  but 
there  need  be  no  doubt  upon  the  point,  since 
they  were  splendid  specimens  of  the  Tinkler 
race,  and  as  the  writer  hereof  has  met  with 
relatives  of  theirs  who  know  the  Galloway  cant 
thoroughly.  George  Borrow,  in  his  diary,  has 
this  significant  entry  : — 

"July  17,  1S66.  Stranraer.  .  .  .  The  dark  woman; 
believed  her  to  be  a  Gypsy.  Did  not  speak  to  her  :  sorry 
I  did  not."  ■'■'3 

A  Kennedy  doubtless  !  We  can  only  now 
join  with  him  in  his  regret,  for  in  a  very  few 
minutes  he  would  have  proved  to  the  Gypsy 
woman  that  he  had  the  inten^sts  of  her  race  at 
heart,  and  wouM  have  been  sure  also  to  have 
left  an  interesting  record  of  tlieir  conversation. 

The  women  folks  vended  the  spoon«,  etc., 
fashioned  by  the  men  and  polished  by  the 
women,  and  attended  to  the  culinary  depart- 
ment. In  some  farms  the  Kennedies  were 
allowed  to  have  a  bed  in  the  house,  but  they 
generally  carried  with  them  their  own  bedclothes, 
and  a  l)ed  was  made  for  them  in  an  outhouse. 
They  usually  also  carried  their  own    provisions,. 


The  Kenntdies  (Homers).  153 

but  if  they  happened  to  wish  to  make  a  potful 
of  broth,  in  which,  tradition  relates,  they  often 
boiled  a  dumpling,  they  always  had  some  want 
to  be  made  good  from  the  adjoining  farm- 
house. They  were  welcomed  by  the  folks  at  the 
farm-houses,  but  each  farmer  had  his  favourites 
amongst  them,  and  sometimes  he  would  let  one 
lot  in  and  refuse  another.  They  were  good  at 
overcoming  such  obstacles  : 

"  If  ye'll  tak'  uth  in  I'll  make  ye  a  richt  nyth  wee 
bathket,  inithtreth,"  one  of  them  would  say.  When  the 
mistress  came  to  ask  for  her  basket,  if  they  had  been  none 
too  well  entertained,  she  would  be  told  : 

"  Deed,  mithtreth,  I  promithed  you  a  bathket,  but  I 
dinna  mind  thaying  I  would  gie  ye't  for  naething." 

Those  at  the  outlying  farm-houses  were 
dependent  on  them  for  the  news  of  the  country 
side,  and  no  one  knew  better  how  to  wield  that 
power  than  the  Kennedies.  The  young  folks 
about  the  farm  often  gathered  around  them  as 
they  sat  on  the  ground  in  the  cartshed  making 
spoons  and  baskets,  and  they  delighted  to  enter- 
tain them.  Sandy  would  ask  : — "  Wud  ye  like 
a  thea  thong,  a  war  thong,  or  a  love  thong  ?"  and 
soon  he  would  have  his  audience  listening  open- 
mouthed  to  his  yarns  and  songs. 

The  "  Plains  of  Waterloo"  and  "  M'Guire's 
Grey  Mare  "  were  great  favourites  of  his,  and 
those  who  heard  him  sing  them  say  it  was  quite 
a  treat.    Here  are  three  verses  of  the  latter  song 


The  KetDiedies  (Homers).  155 

as  still  sung,  after  the  manner  of  Sandy  Kennedy, 
by  a  farmer  : — 

"  If  you  had  been  on  Gilmore  Green, 

You  would  have  seen  sport  and  play  there, 
Two  English  fliers,  they  came  down 
To  beat  Paddy  M'Guire's  grey  mare. 
Chorus — 

i  re  a  fal  de  la  la 
fal  lal  la  de  la  le  ro. 

Away  they  went  the  very  first  heat, 
She  made  all  the  people  wonder. 
The  very  first  time  she  cam'  round 
Was  like  the  roaring  claps  o'  thunder. 

C/^i^r/zj— same. " 

The  Kennedies'  dialect,  from  what  can  be 
gathered,  seems  different  from  that  of  the  district 
frequented  by  them,  and  all  of  them  pronounced 
"s"  as  "th."  That  lisp  accentuated  the  peculiarity 
of  their  speech.  They  were  adepts  at  the  art  of 
ingratiating  themselves,  but  were  never  servile, 
and  had  ever  a  ready  answer.  In  almost  every 
farm-house  in  Galloway  there  are  treasured  up 
stories  about  them  or  told  by  them.  Surely  it  is 
a  pity  that  such  should  be  lost  !  We  therefore 
make  a  beginning  by  recording  a  few  gathered  at 
farm-houses  in  different  parts  of  Galloway,  and 
the  writer  hereof  will  be  thankful  if  readers  will 
communicate  to  him  any  further  stories  about 
the  Kennedies  : — 

A  very  godly  man,  Mr  Stevenson,  first  Free  Church 
minister  at  Barrhill,  once  came  on  "  Uncle  Anra  "  Ken- 
nedy making  baskets  by  the  roadside,  and,  entering  into 
conversation  with  him,  asked — 


156  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

"  Do  you  ever  pray  ?  " 

"  Didtht  thou  ever  make  bathketh  ?"  retorted  "  Uncle 
Anra,"  and  relapsed  into  silence. 

A  minister  of  Kirkcowan  parish,  when  visiting  his 
parishioners,  once  overtook  "  Uncle  Anra."  Out  of 
curiosity  the  minister  had  asked  him — 

"  Do  you  carry  a  Bible  about  with  you  ?" 

"  No,"  replied  "  Unc'e  Anra,"  adding  as  an  after- 
thought— 

"Do  you?"  The  minister  triumphantly  produced  a 
Bible  from  under  his  arm,  and  said  — 

"Certainly."  Whereupon  "Uncle  Anra,"  dropping 
his  budget,  and  after  fumbling  about  in  it  for  a  little, 
produced  his  "  caulms,"  remarking  as  he  did  so — 

"  I  cairry  my  caulmth  ;  every  man  to  hith  ain  tredd." 

A  servant  girl  who  hailed  from  New  Luce  had  been 
unkind  to  "  Uncle  Anra."  One  day  he  was  sitting  by 
the  kitchen  fire  at  the  farm-house  where  she  served,  and 
in  presence  of  the  servant  girl  he  gave  this  conundrum  to 
her  mistress — 

"  Why  ith  New  Luce  like  Nathareth?"  and  when  the 
mistress  gave  it  up,  "  Uncle  Anra"  said  — 

"  Becauth  nae  guid  can  come  oot  o'  eillier. " 

"  Uncle  Anra  "  used  to  speak  somewhat  deprecatingly 
of  the  workmanship  of  the  other  Kennedies.  He  would 
say — 

"They  can  make  a  guid  thtrong  thpune,  but  they 
canna  make  a  thweet  gaun  thpune." 

The  stories  handed  down  about  the  other  Kennedies 
are  like  their  spoons — prol)abIy  not  so  well  polished  as 
"  Uncle  Anra's,"  but  just  served  the  purpose  for  which 
they  were  intended  equally  well. 

One  day  the  late  Mr  Kigby  Wason,  of  Corwar,  found 
Andrew  Kennedy  fishing  in  a  specially  preserved  loch. 
Mr  Wason  was  angry,  and  .said — 


The  Ke /me dies'  Stories.  157 

"  Do  you  know  these  fish  are  mine  ?"  But  despite  Mr 
Wason's  great  bodily  strength,  Andrew  had  confidence  in 
his  own  and  was  prepared  to  try  conclusions,  and  so 
replied  — 

"  Them  in  ta  loch  may  be  yourth,  but  them  in  ta 
bathketh  mine.  Ath  thure  aih  you're  there  an'  I'm 
here  the  aul'  fellowth  are  the  betht  fisherth,  but  Maithter 
Thyminton  o'  The  Holm  could  fish  1" 

Another  story  may  be  given  cliiefly  to  show  that  the 
Kennedies  inherited  the  Gypsy  trait  of  being  fond  of  out- 
of-door  sports.  Sandy  had  been  at  a  fox  hunt,  and 
bare-footed,  he  had  reached  the  top  of  The  Dungeon  o' 
Buchan,  when  a  fox  bolted  from  a  scree  half-way  down 
the  steep  mountain  side.  Sandy  shot  from  above  and 
someone  shot  from  below  the  precipice,  and  Sandy 
summed  up  the  result  thus  : 

"  Vou  fired  and  I  fired  and  the  fox  ith  dead." 

A  farmer,  who,  having  had  a  little  scientific  training  in 
boxing  in  his  early  youth,  got  the  name  of  being  always 
spoiling  for  a  fight.  Knowing  that  Sandy  had  the 
reputation  of  being  a  great  boxer  and  wrestler,  the  farmer 
tried  repeatedly  10  provoke  a  fight  with  him.  Verbal 
insults  had  proved  of  no  avail,  but  at  length  one  day,  as 
the  farmer  was  driving  along,  he  met  Sandy  walking. 
As  he  passed  Sandy  the  farmer  struck  him  with  his  whip. 
Sandy  sprang  at  him  like  a  tiger,  and,  hauling  him  from 
the  trap,  gave  him  a  most  unmerciful  thrashing,  until  the 
farmer  begged  him  to  desist  and  promised  better 
behaviour.      It  was  after  this  fight  that  Sandy  said  : 

"  Thienth  ith  a' verra  weel,  but  it'th  nae  uth  when 
thuperior  thtrength  cometh  into  play." 

A  former  tenant  of  Caldons,  named  MacMillan,  on 
one  occasion  tried  to  get  Sandy's  authority  for  a  rumour 
which  he  designed  to  circulate  about  a  neighbour,  but 
Sandy  was  too  wide  awake  for  him  : 

"They    tell     me,     Sandy,"    said    MacMillan,     slyly, 


158  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

"  lliat   we   are    to    ha'c  )in  o'  your  l)reeil   (Kennedy  by 
name)  as  tenant  o'  the  Stroan." 

"  'Deed  no,"  replied  Sandy,  cautiously.  "  I  wadna 
thwier  to't  either  way.  It'th  mair  nor  pothible,  for 
thereth  gentle  bluid  in  hith  veinth,  Ijut  whether  he'th  a 
Tinkler  or  no,  ril  no  thweir,  but  yer  ain  folkth  are  come 
o'  a  far  waur  kin',  for  they're  a  mixture  o'  Kennedith  and 
MacMillanth.  I  yinth  thaw  the  grun  black  wi' 
MacMillanth,  an'  their  cuddy  cairts  an'  tin  cans,  frae 
Babby  Heronth  to  the  Brig  o'  Dee  (a  distance  of  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile),  an'  they  were  the  wildeth  lot  o' 
Tinklerth  I  ever  clapt  een  on." 

Sandy  was  on  a  later  occasion  making  spoons  at 
Caldons,  when  MacMillan  passed  through  the  steading 
with  the  lambs  on  the  way  to  the  hog  wintering. 

"  A  pickle  thnod  lambth,  Maithter  Mac.Millan,"  said 
Sandy,  seeking  to  ingratiate  himself. 

"  Ye  may  ken  aboot  horns,  Kennedy,  but  what  the 
deevil  dae  ye  ken  aboot  sheep?"  growled  MacMillan, 
still  bearing  a  grudge  against  Sandy. 

"  Atweel  no,"  assented  Sandy,  "  I  think  ye  maun  be 
richt,  for  a'  yer  neebourth  thay  ye  keep  the  warlh  theep 
in  a'  the  parith  o'  Minnigaff. " 

On  one  occasion  Sandy  had  been  sleeping  in  a  stable 
and  he  had  been  displeased  with  the  quarters  assigned  to 
him.  He  had  turned  out  early  to  work  at  his  spoon 
making.  The  farmer  as  he  passed,  on  his  way  to  the  hill, 
remarked  :  — 

"  You're  early  at  work  this  morning  Sandy." 
"  Oh,  yeth  thir,"  replied  Sandy,  "  we  mutht  be  up  and 
doing,  but  gin  I  had  been  a  man  o'  your  thtation  o'  life  I 
wadna  ha'e  been  oot  o'  my  bed  thith  whyle  yet." 

Near  a  farm-house,  Bardrochet,  where  a  farmer,  also 
named  Kennedy,  lived,  Sandy  was  busy  one  day  cutting 
willow  wands  for  basket-making  purposes,  when  a  servant 
lassie  came  running  down  the  loaning  and  said  :  — 


The  Kennedits'  Stories..  159 

"  I  was  sent  to  tell  ye  that  these  wands  are  being  kept 
for  Mr  Kennedy.'" 

"  Gie  back,"  said  Sandy,  "an'  tell  yer  maithter  that 
Mr  Kennedy  ith  juitht  buthy  cutting  them."  By  the 
time  she  had  returned  Sandy  had  decamped  with'a  big 
burden  of  willow  wands. 

Sandy  bore  a  grudge  against  a  farmer,  and  one  night 
he  was  sitting  by  the  fire  in  the  kitchen,  where  a  number 
of  hams  were  hanging  from  the  rafters.  The  farmer 
entered,  and  Sandy  said  : 

"  Man,  maithter,  hamth  make  gran'  pictureth,  but  gin 
ye  were  hog  wunterin'  theep  for  me  I  wad  not  care  to 
thee  tho  inony  o'  them  hangin'  frae  the  theiling  ! " 

He  once  told  an  ordained  elder  : 

"Ye  couldna  thay  a  graith  fit  for  a  thow'th  denner. " 

But  Sandy's  tongue  was  like  one  of  his  old  files,  and 
had  both  a  rough  and  a  smooth  side.  One  night  a 
farmer's  wife  treated  him  to  some  haggis. 

"  That'th  a  gran'  haggith,"  said  Sandy.  "  .  .  .  . 
There'th  a  pickle  o'  gran'  meal  in  that  haggith,  mithtreth. 
.  .  .  Yin  could  thune  thup  themthelveth  oot  o'  a  thpune 
wi'  that  haggith,  mithtreth." 

Sandy  used  to  praise  tlie  short-grained  hard  horn  of  the 
Galloway  sheep  as  compared  with  the  soft  "  boss"  horn 
of  the  larger  sheep  of  South  Ayrshire.  When  he  took 
the  heart  out  of  a  ram's  horn  he  would  say  : 

"  Maithter,  that  ram  wath  in  great  condition  when  it 
wath  thlain." 

"A  ram'th  horn,"  he  held,  "  made  a  durable  thpune 
for  the  kitchen,  but  a  gate'th  (goat's)  a  thuperior  yin  for 
the  room." 

"  There,"  said  Andrew,  on  one  occasion  to  a  customer, 
"  ye  have  what  nae  ither  in  the  parith  hath — thix 
thpuneth  oot  o'  twa  ram'th  hornth." 


i6o  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Sandy  had  once  Ijeen  laid  up  at  a  farm-house.  The 
farmer  being  aihng  at  the  same  time,  liad  called  in  the 
assistance  of  Dr  Ilannay,  The  Gass,  and  had  asked  the 
Doctor  to  examine  Sandy.  Jle  told  Sandy  that  there 
was  nothing  seriously  the  matter,  but  that  he  would  send 
him  a  pill.      Sandy  told  what  happened  thus  : 

"  Whun  I  got  the  peel  I  juitht  whuppit  it  under  the 
bowlhter,  and  whun  the  Doctor  cam'  next  day,  he  thaid  : 

"  '  J  loo' re  ye  the  day,  Thandy?'  an'  I  thaid  : 

"  '  Thank  ye,  Doctor  ;  I'm  better.  Hoo  much  am  I 
in  awin  you  ?'     The  Doctor  said  : 

"  '  Theeing  I  wath  vithiting  the  maithter  I'll  no 
charge  ocht  for  my  thkill,  but  it'll  be  eighteen  penth  for 
the  peel.' 

"  '  Thenk  ye  Doctor,'  thaid  I,  'for  no  chairgin'  me  ocht 
for  yer  thkill,'  an'  I  juitht  whuppit  the  peel  frae  under  the 
bowthter  and  thaid  : 

"  '  An'  thereth  yer  peel.  Doctor  ;  it'th  no  yae  haet  the 
waur  o'  me  ! '  " 

There  are  two  stories  reflecting  on  the  affection  of  the 
Kennedies  towards  their  parents,  but  we  venture  to 
record  them  solely  on  account  of  the  humour  contained 
in  them,  and  because  we  know  that  no  one  would  believe 
that  the  men — who  carried  their  mother  about  on  their 
backs  when  she  was  alive,  and  who  also  carried  her 
corpse  a  long  distance  to  her  burial  place— were  in  any 
degree  lacking  in  filial  affection. 

The  father,  it  is  said,  was  nearly  drowned  on  one 
occasion,  and  as  he  was  being  rapidly  borne  down  the 
stream  one  of  his  sons,  who  was  running  along  the  bank, 
shouted  out  : 

"  For  the  love  o'  God,  fayther,  throw  oot  the 
caulmth." 

On  another  occasion  the  mother  had  slipped  off"  the 
back  of  one  of  her  sons  as  he  was  carrying  her  across  a 
stream.  It  was  said  that  she  had  just  been  allowed  to 
make  the  best  of  her  way  to  the  bank,  and  when  chaffed 
about  this,  Sandy  replied  : 


The  Last  oj  the  Kennedies.  i6i 

"  'Deed  ay,  I  micht  hae  thaved  my  mither,  but  I 
wad  hae  lutht  my  tool  bag  I" 

When  Sandy  was  giving  the  final  p  ilishing  to  a  spoon 
he  used  to  keep  spitting  in  it,  and  a  favourite  saying  of 
his  at  that  stage  was  : 

"  'Deed  ay,  there'th  mony  a  wyth  man  gled  to  lick 
whaur  I  thpit." 

One  evening  a  Kennedy  woman  went  up  to  a  farm- 
house, where  the  Kennedies  had  been  making  spoons, 
and  asked  for  twopence  worth  of  milk.  When  she  got 
the  milk  she  said  : 

"  I  daurna  offer  to  pey  ye  the  money  on  the  Thabbath 
day,  but  I'll  pey't  in  the  mornin'  before  we  leave." 

Next  morning  the  farmer's  wife  spoke  to  them  as  they 
were  about  to  depart,  and  as  there  was  no  word  of  the 
milk  money  she  asked  for  it. 

"  Atweel,"  said  the  Tinkler  woman  as  she  fumbled  to 
get  at  her  pouch,  which  she  kept  slung  under  her  skirt, 
"ye  need  hardly  ha'e  mentioned  the  milk,  for  it  barely 
coloured  the  thpune  I" 

These  Kennedie.s,  as  is  mostly  the  case  with 
the  Tinkler  class,  seem  in  the  end  to  have  fallen 
on  evil  days.  John  was  killed  at  Corsock  by 
the  breaking  of  a  grindstone  while  he  was 
sharpening  his  tools,  and  he  is  interred  in  Kirk- 
patrick-Durham  Churchyard,  where  a  tombstone 
was  put  up  to  his  memory  at  public  expense.  A 
d3caying  trade  and  supervening  old  age  led  to 
poverty  and  misery.  Robert  is  said  to  have  died 
in  a  lodging-house  at  Springholm  about  the  year 
1876.  One  by  one  the  others  dropped  off, 
broken  down  by  exposure  and  an  unduly  keen 

11 


The  Last  of  the  Kennedies.  163 

struggle  for  existence.     One  of  the  family  was 

named  Mary,  who  was  quite  a  character  in  her 

way.       She   was  harmless,  and  her  visits   were 

always  a  source  of  amusement  to  the  inmates  of 

the  houses  at  which  she  called.     Her  figure  was 

peculiar,   and  once  seen  was  never  forgotten. 

With  a  sun-bonnet  which  may  have  been  lilac 

when  new,  with  clothing  that  had  evidently  seen 

better  days,  with  bare  feet,  and  stockings  ending 

at  the  ankles,  she   moved   about   the  country. 

Mary,  like  some  politicians,  had  a  programme  to 

which,  unlike  them,  she  faithfully  adhered.     On 

entering  a  house  she  asked  something  from  each 

inmate,  and    her  questions   generally    followed 

this  order  : 

"  Can  ye  gie's  a  penny  ? 
Can  ye  gie's  a  pipe  ? 
Can  ye  gie's  a  bit  baccy  ? 
Can  ye  gie's  an  apple  ?"  etc. 

After  being  supplied  (for  no  one  thought  of 
refusing  Mary)  she  made  a  pretence  of  leaving, 
when  she  was  reminded  that  she  had  forgotten 
to  favour  the  company  with  a  song.  Hereupon, 
Mary  walked  round  a  circle,  and  then  began  to 
give  a  specimen  of  her  vocal  powers.  One  verse 
ran  as  follows  : — 

"  The  boatman  dance  and  the  boatman  sing, 
The  boatman  can  do  everything  ; 
And  when  the  boatman  comes  ashore 
lie  drinks  his  money,  then  he  works  for  more." 


164  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Between  the  verses  she  executed  a  kind  of 
dance  which  added  to  the  ludicrousness  of  the 
performance.  Another  of  her  songs  referred  to 
the  "  Merry  Masons  "  with  their  aprons  tied  on, 
and  brought  into  prominence  the  "  burr  "  which 
marked  her  speech.  Interesting  stories  could 
be  told  about  Mary  and  her  doings,  but  these 
little  glimpses  may  perhaps  be  sufficient  for  the 
present.'' 

One  of  the  women  always  wore  as  headgear 
a  shawl  drawn  together  around  the  face  by 
means  of  a  ribbon.  The  shawl  was  also  drawn 
together  on  the  nape  of  the  neck,  and  the  end 
hung  down  the  back.  In  her  hair  she  wore  a 
long  horn  hairpin  manufactured  by  herself. 

Tibbuck,  the  last  of  the  sisters,  spent  her 
closing  days  in  the  ^^'^orkhouse,  Dumfries,  where 
she  died  on  1st  May,  1893,  aged  84  years. 

Andrew  was  weak  both  bodily  and  mentally 
towards  the  end.  Enquiries  in  connection  with 
an  application  for  parochial  relief  elicited  the 
information  that  he  was  born  at  Laird mannoch, 
Tongland  parish,  Kirkcudbrightshire.  No  doctor 
had  been  available,  but  hearing  that  a  medical 
student,  one  Bennett,  a  son  of  the  farmer's  at 
Gatehouse,  Balmaghie,  was  at  home,  John 
Kennedy  had  sent  for  Bennett.  For  timely  help 
rendered,  the  independent  John  would  not  suffer 
himself  to  be  a  charity,  and  he  presented  the 


The  Last  of  the  Kennedies.  165 

medical  student,  who  afterwards  practised  in 
GatehoLise-of-Fleet,  with  a  divider  and  a  dozen 
green  horn  spoons. 

Latterly  Andrew  suffered  from  chronic  cerebral 
disease,  and,  though  his  mind  was  darkened, 
his  strong  and  abiding  central  passion — a  love 
of  freedom  and  the  open  air — never  seems  to 
have  suffered  eclipse.  Let  the  simple  facts  pay 
their  own  eloquent  tribute  to  poor  Andrew's 
memory  : — At  West  Crosherie,  where  he  had 
been  allowed  to  sleep  overnight  in  a  barn,  he 
was  found  in  the  middle  of  the  night  wandering 
about  the  farm-yard  with  a  blanket  wrapped 
round  him.  At  another  farm— Barvennan — 
whilst  apparently  rambling  about  in  the  same 
way,  he  had  fallen  down  a  hatchway,  and, 
sustaining  an  injury  to  his  spine,  had  to  be  sent 
to  the  poorhouse.  At  one  poorhouse  he 
threatened  to  smash  the  window  if  the  keeper 
would  not  let  in  the  free  air  of  heaven  ;  and  in 
another  poorhouse,  when  the  (}overnor  came 
round  to  lock  up  the  place,  Andrew  declined  to 
sleep  in  the  house  if  he  did  so,  giving  as  his 
reason,  "  I  canna  thleep  in  a  hoothe  an'  the 
door  lockit."  Finally,  on  2nd  September,  1892, 
he  was  placed  in  Crichton  Asylum,  Dumfries, 
where  he  remained  until  his  death. 

To  complete  the  tragic  outline  of  simple  facts 
about  Andrew's  closing  years,  we  shall  record  an 


1 66  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

account  of  a  visit  paid  to  him  while  he  was  an 
inmate  at  the  Asylum,  from  which,  in  spite  of 
his  being  incoherent  and  demented  during  his 
lengthened  detention  there,  it  will  be  seen  that 
his  absorbing  passion  continued  to  the  end 
nobly  to  assert  itself  : — 

"The  scene  at  the  Asylum  made  a  great 
impression  on  my  mind,  though  I  had  been 
often  in  the  Asylum  seeing  patients,  and  if  one 
thing  more  than  another  struck  me  on  such 
visits,  it  was  their  subdued  air  of  resignation. 
Th's  is  how  my  visit  to  Andrew  Kennedy  is 
fixed  in  my  mind  now  :  I  had  occasion  once  to 
take  back  to  the  Asylum  a  patient  who  had  been 
very  violent  at  home.  Under  the  firm  hand- 
clasp, the  steady  eye,  and  the  kind  words  of  the 
doctor,  it  was  wonderful  to  witness  the  fire 
subsiding  in  the  patient's  eye,  and  a  striking 
calm  overspreading  the  face.  But  when  Andrew 
Kennedy  was  brought  before  the  doctor  and 
myself,  I  at  all  events  felt  myself  confronted  by 
the  commanding  presence  of  a  tall,  erect  man, 
with  good  brow,  and  keen,  dnrk  eyes ;  though 
evidently  worn  out  and  broken  down  bodily,  he 
put  intense  energy  without  excitement  into  his 
pleading  for  liberty  : 

"  '  Oh,  sir,'  he  ur  ;ed,  '  if  ye've  ocht  to  do  wi' 
me  tak'  me  oot  o'  here.' 

"'But,'  said  I,  'you  are  very  comfortable 
here,  and  you  have  nowhere  to  go  to.' 


Tinklers'  Religion  and  Philosophy .     167 

"  '  I'm  no  fin'in'  faut  wi'  the  place,  but  I've 
everywhere  to  gang  to.  O  man,  let  me  oot, 
tak'  me  oot  I '   he  continued  to  plead. 

"  I  tried  to  get  him  to  speak  about  his  early 
days,  his  birthplace,  etc.  He  answered  sanely 
enough,  but  always  hastened  back  to  his  main 
theme,  repeating  with  pitiable  eagerness,  '0 
man,  let  me  oot,  tak'  me  oot  I '  " 

He  died  at  the  Asylum  on  4th  February, 
1894,  of  chronic  cerebral  disease. 

Even  so  passed  away  the  last  of  the 
Kennedies,  the  far-famed  horriers,  a  splendid 
race,  trusted  by  the  public  whom  they  served 
faithfully  for  many  a  day. 

Meredith,  in  his  The  Ordeal  of  Richard 
Feverel,  portrays  a  philosophic  Tinkler,  who, 
regarding  a  pipe  as  a  greater  blessing  than  a 
wife,  also  held  other  philosophic  views  of  life. 
Contrary  to  the  usual  religious  indifference  dis- 
played by  Tinklers,  that  Tinkler  believed  that 
"  God's  above  the  devil,"  and  from  his  superior 
knowledge  of  the  Bible  reproved  "  Speed  the 
plough,"  who  had  asked — 

"  A — who's  him  (Paul)  ?''  by  answering 

"  Read  your  Bible." 

"  There's  a  Tinkler  and  a  ploughman,"  says 
Meredith,  "  who  think  that  Ciod  is  always  fight- 
ing with  the  devil  which  shall  command  the 
kingdom  of  the  earth.     The  Tinkler's  for  God 


1 68  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

and  the  ploughman — ."  A  Tinkler  who  reads 
the  Bible  is  an  exception,  but  it  is  something  to 
find  even  one  such  case.  Once  the  writer  hereof 
asked  a  Tinkler  woman  to  allow  him  to  set  his 
camera  on  a  box.  She  assented,  but  said  there 
were  some  things  in  it  that  would  require  to  be 
removed  to  save  them  from  getting  broken. 
When  she  opened  the  lid,  there  on  the  top  was 
a  Bible.  But  be  careful  not  to  give  too  much 
credit  to  the  Tinkler  in  the  matter  of  religion. 
Two  friends  paid  a  visit  to  a  Tinklers'  camp  on 
a  Sunday  evening.  They  were  disappointed 
because  the  Tinklers  "  froze  "  and  were  as  dull 
as  ditch  water.  The  visitors  attributed  the 
Tinklers'  quiet  demeanour  to  regard  for  the 
Sabbath  day.  A  few  days  afterwards  a  gentle- 
man related  that  one  of  the  Tinklers  had  told 
him  he  knew  one  of  the  visitors  well,  but  had 
anxiously  enquired  :  — 

"But  wha  was  yon  wi'  him  ?  ^^'e  thocht  he 
might  be  a  pawnbroker  or  a  detective  "  ! 

There  is  a  certam  breezy  lightheartedness — 
call  it  philosophy  if  }()u  will — about  the  Tinkler 
that  enables  him  to  rise  superior  to  the  misery 
of  his  lot.  When  we  do  so  little  to  help  him  to 
rise,  need  we  grudge  him  such  happiness,  even 
if  it  is  the  outcome  of  a  spree  ? 

Their  upbringing  is  of  the  hnrdiest  order: 
miserable  shelter  from  exposure  :  alwavs  on  the 


Tinkler:,''  Upbringing.  169 

borders  of  starvation,  and  yet  they  are  not 
unusually  prone  to  commit  other  than  the  most 
trifling  offences,  such  as  helping  themselves  to 
such  things  as  wood,  straw,  hay,  turnips,  and 
the  like  : 

"  The  clerg}-  take  tlie  tenth  of  swine, 
Potatoes,  poultry,  corn,  and  hay  ; 
Why  should  not  Gypsies,  when  they  dine, 
Have  a  tithe  pig  as  well  as  they  ?" 

Dare  we,  who  enjoy  the  necessaries,  and 
many  of  the  luxuries,  of  life  condemn  them  ? 

Even  in  cases  of  petty  theft,  it  is  generally 
diiest  necessity  that  leads  them  to  make  the 
depredation,  which  is  only  committed  after  they 
have  first  exhausted  their  peculiar,  inventive 
genius  for  raising  the  wind  :  One  day  in  the 
depths  of  winter  a  little  boy  of  about  five 
years   of  age  might    have   been  seen   weeping 

bitterly  at  the  footbridge  at railway  station. 

Moved  to  pity,  a  gentleiuan  said  : 

"  What's  the  matter  ?" 

"  Boo,  hoo,  hoo,"  was  the  only  response. 

"Who  has  been  hurting  you?"'  was  next 
asked. 

"  My  mither,"  was  the  answer. 

"  ^Vhat's  she  done  to  you  ?" 

"She  said  she'd  tak'  me  in  the  train." 

"  Which  train  is  she  in  ?" 

"  Boo,  hoo,  hoo  " 


lyo  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

At  this  stage  it  suddenly  dawned  on  the 
gentleman  that  the  boy  was  a  Tinkler,  and  he 
said  : 

Stall  (stop).  Instantly  the  Tinkler  boy  said 
"  Eh  ?  "  the  boo-hooing  stopped,  and  he  dried 
the  big  tears  with  his  bonnet. 

J'avri  (go  on)  said  the  gentleman,  and  he 
followed  the  boy  along  the  footbridge.  When 
they  reached  the  open  road,  the  gentleman  said 
to  the  boy  : 

"  Now,  chavi  (boy),  was  that  a  dodge  to 
raise  money,  or  was  your  mother  really  in  the 
train  ?  " 

And  for  answer  the  Tinkler  laddie  bolted  down 
the  road  as  hard  as  his  little  legs  could  carry 
him,  and  never  once  looked  over  his  shoulder 
till  quite  a  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile  lay 
l)etween  him  and  his  tormentor.  A  hard  school 
of  acting  that  for  the  poor  Tinkler  boy,  and  only 
a  prospect  of  a  copper  or  two  for  acting  so 
naturally  !  But  it  would  not  be  long  till  the 
Tinkler  woman  would  cause  tliat  little  emissary 
to  appear  in  quite  a  new  role.  The  women  lay 
their  plans  very  deep  at  limes  : 

A  tipsy  Tinkler  man  was  recently  seen  sitting 
in  a  cuddy-cart  nursing  a  child  as  the  conveyance 
moved  along  tiic  road.  Sometime  afterwards  a 
Tinkler  woman  was  seen  rushing  along  the  road 
crying   "  My  bairn  !  my  bairn  !''  but  all  at  once 


Tinklers    U/'l'ri/iguii:^.  i  7 1 

she  wheeled  as  if  possessed  by  some  sudden 
resolve  and  returned  to  a  public-house,  where 
her  husband,  a  Tinkler  by  marriage  only,  and 
some  other  Tinklers  were  drinking.  Her  hus- 
band came  to  the  door,  and  she  upbraided  him  : 

"  There  never  was  yin  o'  the  breed  o'  ye  ocht 
but  a  hard-hearted  wretch."  Suddenly  he 
jumped  into  his  cart,  in  which  two  children 
were  already  seated,  and  she  jumped  in  after 
him.  He  thrashed  the  old,  broken-kneed  horse 
whilst  she  tried  to  prevent  him  ;  and  anon  he 
whacked  her  and  the  old  bag  of  bones  by  turns, 
and  amidst  the  shrieks  of  "  Murder  !  help  !  oh, 
my  bairn  I  "  onward  staggered  the  old  horse, 
followed  by  the  groggy  cart.  It  was  a  sickening 
sight,  but  all  the  time  the  children  sat  laughing  in 
the  cart  quite  unconscious  that  they  were  passing 
through  any  danger.  Deeply  embedded  in  the 
wild  nature  of  that  Tinkler  woman  was  a  love 
for  her  child,  and  that  seemed  to  be  the  sole 
motive  for  her  sudden  resolve.  Next  day,  how- 
ever, the  gentleman  said  to  her  : 

'"  Barrie  davies,  nawken,  I  wad  like  \o  jan  if 
you  got  the  wee  kinchin  ye  were  deekin  for  alang 
the  lig  the  t'ither  raitieV  (Good  day.  Tinkler, 
I  would  like  to  know  if  you  got  the  infant 
you  were  looking  for  along  the  road  the  other 
night  ?) 

67^/ (yes),  she  replied,  adding  in  a  triumphant 


172  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

way,  "an'  I  fekkit  (took)  the  gudeman  avri 
(away)  frae  the  peevin  keir  (drinking  house)  "  ! 

But  to  see  the  Galloway  Tinklers  as  they 
renlly  are  let  us  take  the  liberty  of  recording,  in 
the  first  person,  the  actual  experiences  of  a  visit 
to  a  Tinklers'  encampment.  One  must  bear  in 
mind  if  one  wishes  to  profit  by  such  a  visit  that 
the  iac/io  droin  to  be  a  jiimevmengro  is  to  shoon, 
dick  and  ris^  in  si  (i.e,  The  true  way  to  be  a  wise 
man,  is  to  hear,  see,  and  bear  in  mind)."" 

Young  Geordie  MacMillan  may  be  taken  as 
a  good  specimen  of  the  MacMillan  gang.  He 
is  a  strong,  active  fellow,  who  has  travelled 
both  in  the  Highlands  and  Lowlands  of  Scotland, 
and  part  of  England  and  \Vales,  and  has  spent 
some  considerable  time  in  Canada.  He  was 
married  to  a  cousin  of  his  own  at  Pictou, 
Canada.  His  ruddy  complexion,  black  hair, 
dark  eyes,  quick  inquisitive  glance,  and  his 
restless  manner  all  go  to  show  that  there  is,  for 
a  Tinkler,  an  unusually  large  proportion  of  Gypsy 
blood  in  his  veins  ;  indeed,  one  could  readily 
believe  that  though  Geordie  knows  only  the 
Galloway  cant  there  is  more  Gypsy  blood  in  his 
veins  than  in  many  an  English  Gypsy  who  speaks 
Romanes,  and  knows  little  or  nothing  of  cant. 

One  day  I  was  coming  along  a  road  when,  at 
a  considerable  distance,  I  spied  a  woman  walk- 
ing in   front.     She  lifted   her    heels    from    the 


A  Tinklers'  Eucaiiipmeiii.  173 

ground  so  unusually  smartly  that  I  thought  to 
myself  "  that  must  be  a  Tinkler,"  for  the  Tinkler 
women  are  generally  smart  on  their  feet.  She 
disappeared  round  a  corner,  and  when  I  turned 
the  corner  there  was  Geordie  MacMillan  sitting 
in  a  cuddy-cart  with  a  roll  of  waxcloth  partly 
hanging   over  the  end  of  his  cart.      It  was  his 


Photo  by  A.  M'Coruiick. 

Galloway,  Cumberland,  Perthshire,  and 
Argyleshire  Tinklers. 

Blarshalls,  Jlonisous,  Stewarts,  anil  (.'ampliells. 

wife  I  had  seen,  and  they  were  now  talking  to 
one  another. 

"  Good  day,  young  man,"  said  Geordie. 

"  Good  day  to  you  both,"  said  I,  and  when 
the  wife  moved  to  the  other  side,  I  asked  : 

"  And  how're  you,  Geordie  ?" 

"  I'm  weel,"  said  he,  "an'  I  was  juist  telling 
my  mither   before  I  left  '  Parliament  Knowe  ' 


174  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

that  it  was  this  sliaji  wee  gav  (bad  wee  town) 
that  the  }Oung  man  who  was  interested  in 
travellers  leeved.  Dae  ye  ken  what  she  said, 
young  man  ?" 

"  No,"  said  I. 

"  ^^'eel,  she  said  he  maun  be  a  rauge  gnd^^i 
(daft  man)  that  wad  ha'e  ocht  to  do  wi' 
Tinklers." 

Whereat  I  laughed  and  said  I  would  just  go 
and  interview  her,  seeing  that  I  had  never  had 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  her  before. 

"  Parliament  Knowe '"  is  an  ideal  camping 
ground ;  it  sits  high  and  dry,  commands  a 
lovely  outlook  over  the  valley  of  Cree,  and  is 
sheltered  by  some  fine  Scotch  firs.  Mrs  Mac- 
Millan  was  busy  baking  scones  on  her  camp-fire 
when  I  arrived  on  the  scene. 

"  Good  afternoon,"  I  said  somewhat  stiffly. 

"  'Tis  that,  sir,"  she  formally  replied,  but 
went  on  turning  bar  scones.  Silence  ensued, 
but  she  was  determined  not  to  break  it.  Then 
it  occurred  to  me  to  ask  : 

"Can  you  show  me  your  licence  ?"'" 

"  Yes,  young  gentleman,''  she  replied,  rubbing 
her  floury  hands  on  her  apron.  She  produced 
it  from  a  box  which  had  lieen  used  as  a  stool, 
and  said  : 

"  That's  the  wee  slangs  "  (pedlar's  licence). 

'*  Have  you  the  cart  licence  ?"  I  asked. 


A  Tinklers  Enavnpinent.  175 

"  Yes,  young  gentleman,"  and  as  she  handed 
it  over  she  sa'd  : 

"  That's  the  big  slanos  "  (waggon  licence). 

"  But,"  said  I,  '■  it's  not  in  George  MacMillan's 
name  ?" 

"  No,"  she  promptly  rejoined,  "  ye  see  I'm  a 
widow." 

"  Oh,  but  isn't  there  one  George  MacMillan 
camping  here  ?"  I  next  asked. 

"  Yes,  yer  honour  :  he  was  here,  but  dear 
knows  whaur  he  is  noo,"  and  for  a  moment  she 
seemed  at  a  loss  what  to  say  ;  but  then  it 
dawned  on  her  to  ask  : 

"  But  wha  are  you,  to  ask  sae  mony  ques- 
tions ?  " 

"  Oh,"  said  I,  "  Fm  the  range  gadgi." 

"  Losh  bless  me,"  she  ejaculated,  "I  could 
like  to  hae  hut  ye  on  the  face  wi'  a  scone  whun 
ye  asked  for  Geordie's  leescience,  for  he's  awa' 
into  Newton  wi'  waxclaith,  an'    it's  three  days 

past  the April  (date  when  licences  fall  to 

be  renewed),  and  I  kenna  whether  he's  paid  the 
big  siajigs  or  no.  Weel,  weel,  ye're  a  range 
gadgi  richt  eneuch." 

Seeing  that  Mrs  MacMillan  was  busy  scone- 
baking,  I  said  : 

"  Are  there  any  others  about  the  camp  ?  "  to 
which  she  replied  : 

"  Deil  the  body  except  an  aul'  blin'  Hielan' 
Tinkler  wumman  ower  there  at  that  far  camp." 


cc  H 


A  Tinklers  Encainpnieut.  i-ji 

"Well,"  said  I,  "finish  your  baking,  and  I'll 
go  and  have  a  crack  with  her  and  come  back 
to  see  you  later." 

A  poorjold  shrivelled-up  mite  of  a  woman 
was  squatting  on  the  ground  in  the  mouth  of 
the  tent.  Her  frock  was  in  tatters  and  hung 
loosely  on  her  shrunken  frame.  Her  bodice 
being  open  at  the  necl^  showed  that  she  wore 
little  or  no  underclothing.  A  cutty  pipe  was  in 
her  mouth,  and  if  clouds  of  smoke  are  any 
criterion  she  was  enjoying  her  smoke.  She 
moved  not  as  I  approached,  but  a  bantam  cock 
which  had  been  sitting  on  the  top  of  the  tent 
flapped  its  wings  and  flew  down.  On  nearer 
inspection^the  poor  old  body  had  no  eyes  in  her 
head.  What  a  study  for  the  antiquary  1  What 
a  reproach  for  Christian  Scotland  !  How  comes 
it  that  Tinklers — the  Marshalls  always — still 
carry  abouc  with  \.\\^\w  bantam  cocks  and  hens, 
which  seems  also,  from  Callot's  picture  (see 
illustrations  to  chapter  ix.),  to  have  been  the 
custom  with  continental  Gypsies  in  1604?  (see 
pages  lo-ii,  vol.  ii.  of  The  Gypsy  Lore  Journal). 
In  this  changeable  climate  how  is  it  that  the  tent 
holds  on  the  same  as  of  old  while  other  systems 
of  housing  have  their  day  and  cease  to  be  ? 

"  What  care  we  though  we  be  so  small  ? 

The  tent  shall  stand  when  the  palace  shall  fall." 

Could  any  more  primitive  sight  have  been  seen 

12 


lyS  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

a  thousand  years  ago  ?  A\'hat  has  a  boasted 
civilisation  done  for  such  as  she  ?  What  has 
religion  done  ?  ^Vhat  philanthropy  ?  Poverty- 
stricken  !  Religionless — who  can  tell  ?  The 
eyes  eaten  out  of  her  head  with  inflammation 
through  exposure,  mayhap  through  misdeeds  ! 
Yet,  withal,  she  appeared  to  be  quite  contented, 
and  did  not  seem  to  consider  she  was  enduring 
hardship. 

Barrie  dnvies,  graii-naisinort  (Fine  day, 
grannie),  I  said,  sitting  down  beside  her. 

"  'Tis  that,  kind  sir,"  she  said,  turning  her 
sightless  face  round  towards  me.  Momentarily 
I  was  spellbound  ;  regaining  myself,   I  asked  : 

"  Don't  you  know  cant,  grannie  ?  " 

"  Oh  ay,  dear;  but  I  seldom  speak  it." 

"  Why  ?  ''  I  asked. 

*'  Oh,  it's  juist  no'  nice." 

"  But  why  ?  " 

"  Oh,  it's  juist  hatefu'  to  hear't." 

We  talked  for  some  time  on  the  general 
aspects  of  the  Tinkler's  life,  and  soon  the  other 
members  of  the  various  gangs — there  were  four 
on  this  occasion — all  began  to  drop  in  from  the 
labours  of  the  day,  the  women  folk  from  selling 
tin  ware  made  by  the  men,  or  from  selling  small 
drapery  goods  which  they  carry  in  rooskies 
■(baskets),  and  the  men  from  selling  waxcloth  or 
brashes,  or  from  horse-dealing,  or,  as  is  too  often 


A   Tinklers'  Enca}npment.  179 

the  case,  from  having  a  carousal.  Mrs  MacMillan 
having  finished  her  baking,  came  forward  and 
said  : 

"  Geordie  and  this  young  man's  great  com- 
rades ;  he  kens  cant  juist  Hke  yin  o'  oorsels." 

"  I  hae  juist  been  tellin'  him  it's  hatefu'  to 
hear't,"  said  old  grannie. 

"  That's  the  God's  truth,  aul'  wumman,  and 
it  sometimes  gets  yin  into  trouble  as  weel  as  oot 
o't :  Yince  me  an'  anither  wumman  went  up  to 
Slogarie  to  sell  cans.  Whun  we  knocked  at  the 
door  a  big  fat  wumman  answert't  it.  Whun  she 
opened  the  door,  I  noticed  a  baskit  o'  aipples 
sittin'  on  a  stand.     Says  I  to  my  neebor  : 

"  '  I  wish  that  barrie  manishi  (big  Avoman) 
would  nash  avri  (go  away)  ;  I  would  chor  (help 
myself  to)  some  o'  thae  o-a/ishers  (apples).'  A 
young  leddy  that  had  been  listenin'  behin'  the 
door  cam'  oot  o'  the  room  and  said  : 

"  '  Never  mind  the  big  fat  wumman,  and  if 
ye're  decent  we'll  gie  ye  some  o'  the  aipples.' 
Lo'd,  aul'  wumman,  if  ye  had  stuck  me  I  wudna 
hae  bled  !  She  had  veesited  aboot  Yetholm 
and  had  every  word  o'  the  cant." 

While  the  Tinklers  gulped  down  their  rough 
and  ready  meal,  1  amused  myself  by  taking 
snapshots  of  them,  and  chatting  with  old  grannie. 
Our  conversation  was  interrupted  by  a  loud 
noise  which  proceeded  from  behind  the  tent, 
and  old  grannie  ciied  out — 


P 

':imi 

^ 

yi 

I 

O  £    s 


A  Tinklers'  Encampment.  i8i 

"  Wull  some  yin  look  efter  thae  weans,  or 
they'll  get  killed?" 

I  looked  behind  the  tent,  and  there  was  a 
plucky  bare-legged  and  bare-chested  Tinkler 
boy  of  about  six  years  old  trying  to  ride  a 
donkey.  He  was  in  the  act  of  sliding  over  its 
shoulder,  though  still  embracing  it  round  the 
neck.  Then  another  mounted.  Up  went 
Neddy's  heels  and  down  went  his  head,  and  the 
boy  met  the  fate  of  the  other.  Several  tried, 
some  of  them  making  a  better  stand  than  others. 
At  last  it  was  decreed  that  one  nicknamed 
■"  BuUer  " — a  name  to  conjure  with  in  the  clan 
Marshall — should  mount  the  cuddy,  and  in  vain 
did  Neddy  for  some  time  kick  up  his  heels. 
The  rider  twisted  his  long  legs  under  the  donkey. 
At  last  Neddy  seemed  to  sulk.  He  backed 
steadily  into  a  whin  bush,  and  then  feeling  the 
pricks,  gave  a  spring  forward  which  almost 
unseated  the  valiant  "  Buller."  Then  the 
donkey  stood  stock-still.  He  was  thinking,  and 
looked  decidedly  wise.  He  began  to  back 
more  vigorously  than  ever,  and  when  he  regained 
the  whins  he  stood  almost  straight  on  end,  and 
then  giving  a  half-wheel,  he  caused  "Buller"  to 
lurch,  and  landed  him  in  a  whin  close  to  the 
one  the  donkey  had  formerly  been  pricked  by. 
Loud  was  the  laughter,  and  Neddy,  commonly 
regarded  as  stupid,  but  who,  the  Gypsies  all  say, 


A  Tinklers'  Encampment.  185 

is  most  knowing,  and  "  sees  ghosts  even  quicker 
than  a  horse,  because  of  the  cross  on  his  back," 
was  decreed  the  victor. 

A  Cumberland  Tinkler  and  a  Carlisle  Lid  who 
were  travelling  in  company  as  clog  dancers  next 
favoured  the  company  with  a  break-down.  One 
of  the  two  played  a  mouth  harmonium  as  they 
danced,  and  better  playing  or  dancing  one  could 
not  wish  for.  This  merely  served  to  whet  the 
appetite  of  William,  the  King  of  the  Marshall 
gang,  and  he  speedily  formed  a  square  for  a 
reel.  He  and  his  consort  were  partners  and 
soon  amidst  much  "  hooching "  and  yells  of 
laughter,  they  were  cleekin'j;  and  swinging  and 
footing  gaily  the  jolliest  reel  imaginable.  Some- 
times it  was  the  mouth  harmonium  that  served 
as  an  accompaniment,  but  King  William  had  a 
distinct  preference  for  suiging  out  at  double 
quick  time  the  chorus  of  the  "  Tinkler's 
Waddin'  " — 

"  Dirrim  day  doo  a  day, 
Dirrim  doo  a  da  dee  O, 
Dirrim  day  doo  a  day, 
Hurrah  for  the  Tinkler's  waddin'  O." 

At  the  close  of  the  reel  I  left  the  breathless 
dancers  to  go  to  resume  my  interview  with  old 
Grannie  Stewart,  who,  I  learned,  hiiled  fr  )m 
Perthshire.  She  was  standing  alone  with  sight- 
less eye  sockets  upturned — it  almost  see  ned 
pleadingly — towards  the  sun.       A  donkey  had 


184  The  Tinkkr-Gypsies. 

strayed  over  the  b;ae  Lxc^^  and  "  King  William  " 
on  his  way  to  drive  it  hack  passed  between 
grannie  and  me      As  he  passed  he  said — 

"  God,  that  aul'  wumman  wad  be  far  better 
dead."' 

"  Syel''  ('deed  ay),  she  listlessly  assented. 

"Come  and  sit  down,  old  grannie,"  I  said. 

We  sat  down  together  on  the  brae  face.  I 
soon  found  she  was  thoroughly  versed  in  cant, 
although  she  said,  "  I  ken  little  aboot  it  com- 
pared wi'  some  o'  my  forebears." 

First  one  Tinkler  came  over  and  sat  down,  and 
then  another,  and  presently  a  little  circle  formed 
round  in  front  of  us.  The  old  Perthshire 
Tinkler  woman,  Stewart,  sat  on  my  right  ;  and 
on  my  left,  her  son-in-law,  an  Argyleshire  Tinkler 
named  Campbell,  a  polite,  intelligent,  red-haired 
man  who  spoke  good  English  ;  and  the  others 
were  in  fron^  At  times  I  still  imagine  I  feel 
the  Argyleshire  Tinkler's  beard  rubbing  against 
my  cheek  1     Said  I,  ''  What's  your  word  for — 

"  Bacon  ?"   "  Mass,^''  said  a  Marshall. 
"  y'lger,"  the  Carlisle  lad. 
"  Saw/lid,"  the  Cumberland  Tinkler. 
"  Road  ?"     "  Drum"  said  William  Marshall. 
"  Lig,^''  said  a  MacMillan. 
"  Aye  and  '  tober,^  "  said  Campbell. 
"  Shelta  ?  "  "  Never  heard  the  word,"  chorus  of  voices. 
"  Miiiklcrs  thari?"  "  Never  heard  it,  from  all  sides  ; 
(Tinkler's  talk)        but  the  Cumberland  Tinkler  said, 
'"  It's  t/iadi"  and  some  of  them 
shouted  "Gi'e  Morrison  a  chance," 
and  then  he  said  : 


A  Tinklers'  Encampment.  185 

■"  Stop  your  talk  "  is  "  Stall yei-  thadiait,"  or 
"  N'tckso  bullien^''  or 
'■^  Stall yer  whiiddiiC  ,^'%2i\A^\\\\2im. 
Marshall  ; 

''''Aye,  or  ^  Stall  yer  iiia?!oan,'' " 
said  old  grannie. 
"  Tent  ?"      "  Coininodation^''  said  the  Carlisle  lad. 
"  Runk,^''  said  several  others. 
"  Wattle, ^^  added  old  grannie  ; 

and  so  on  for  over  an  hour  I  drank  in  the  cant 
of  several  districts.  One  must,  as  somebody 
has  remarked,  strive  to  be  "  wax  to  receive,  and 
marble  to  retain,"  amidst  such  a  babel  of  tongues. 
The  subject  is  full  of  interest,  and  a  list  of  cant 
words  collected  by  me  in  that  way  from  Gallo- 
way, Perthshire,  and  Argyleshire  Tinklers  will  be 
appended  to  the  final  chapter.  If  similar  lists 
were  collected  in  different  parts  throughout 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  the  cant  language 
would  prove  a  splendid  field  for  philologists. 
The  following  are  a  few  strange  expressions 
I  heard  for  the  first  time  on  that  occasion  : — 

Morgen — Morning. 

Watches — England,     Highlands,     or     America,     land 

beyond. 
Dal  zvatches — Ireland. 
Dal  gadgi — Irishman. 

Sothern  (pron.  like  so)  gadgi — a  Protestant. 
Yarrachan — Roman  Catholic. 
Lenunaji  cowl — An  Orargeman. 
Cangi-i  (or  kanli  by  a  Perthshire  Tinkler)  —Church. 
Dal  ivhuddin  chaet — Roman  Cathobc  chapel. 
Test — Head. 


1 86  The  Tinkler  Gypsies. 

The  cant  lesson  was  rudely  inteiTU[)ted  by  the 
sudden  appeornnce  of  a  wild-looking  female 
figure  over  the  hill.  She  was  gesticulating 
furiously,  and  raving  louldly.  On  she  came — 
drunk  and  in  a  state  of  great  deshabille,  her 
dark  hair  hanging  loosely  on  her  shoulders.  She 
halted  on  a  knoll  just  above  the  company  and 
yelled  : 

''^\'haur  is  she  ?  Til  tak'  her  life.  I'll  learn 
the  ...  to  insult  me,"'  and  flinging  her  arms 
widely  apart,  she  continued  : 

"  I'm  as  weel  to  be  seen  as  her,  the  .  .  .  ." 

"  Losh,  that's  awfu"  talk  !"  said  Mrs  Marshall. 

"There's  a  shannas  (trouble)  coming,"  said 
old  grannie. 

Her  words  had  a  magical  effect.  The  Tinkler 
woman  buttoned  the  neck  of  her  dress  and 
glanced  furtively  over  her  shoulder  as  she 
did  so. 

"Ay,  it's  Tarn"  (the  devil),  said  William 
Marshall. 

"  But,"  added  Mrs  AFarshall,  "  he's  lingin  aree 
(going  away)  again  ";  and  presently  the  enraged 
Tinkler  woman  sat  dcjwn  in  a  calmer  state  of 
mind.  A  few  moments  later  she  joined  in 
the  conversation,  and  in  a  cjuarter  of  an  hour 
she  seemed  (juite  sober.  I  met  her  on  several 
other  occasions,  and  she  was  always  most  polite, 
but  I  owe  her  a  grudge  for  spoiling  a  lesson  in 


A  Tinklers'  Encampment.  187 

cant.  A  spirit  of  unrest  set  in  :  and  it  was  left 
to  William  Marshall  to  break  up  the  class  amidst 
roars  of  laughter  at  my  expense.      I  had  said  : 

"  What  would  you  say  for  this  in  cant — 
'  Have  a  glass  of  whisky  ?  '  " 

"Weel,"  said  AVilliam,  pushing  in  his  oar 
quickly,  "  I'd  say  : 

" '  Thenk  ye,  yer  honour;  but  if  it's  a'  the 
same  to  you,  I'd  prefer  a  chant  o  gatter  (pint  of 
beer)  to  a  cant  oi peeve  (glass  of  whisky)  ! '  " 

Each  gang  then  gathered  around  its  own 
camp  fire.  Poor  old  Dnmbie  Wilson  sidled 
— paralysed  with  disease — along  towards  his 
bed-tent,  avoiding  the  unevenness  of  the  ground 
as  he  went. 

"  Poor  old  Dumbie,"  said  an  English  Tinkler, 
"it's  a  wonder  the  authorities  don't  do  some- 
what for  him.  If  they  found  him  dead  in  the 
morning  they'd  likely  say,  '  Damned  good 
riddance'  ;  never  mind,  my  turn  next  !  " 

As  I  seated  myself  beside  Mrs  MacMillan's 
fire,  I  remarked  : 

"  It's  a  pity  to  see  old  Dumbie  in  a  state  like 
that?" 

"  It  is,"  she  assented,  "  but  it's  a  greater  peety 
o'  yon  P^nglish  traveller  that  spoke  about  him. 
D'ye  ken  why  he  aye  stands  ?  Weel,  it's  juist 
because  if  he  sits  doon  he  canna  get  up  withoot 
help.      He's  discharged  frae  the    Infirmary  as 


iMI^^^^^^^K^^m^MfiM 

i 

r^ ,-  ■    m 

*■  »K 

A  Tinklers  Encampment.  189 

incurable,  an'  he  could  show  ye  his  certeeficate 
to  that  effect." 

"  Poor  fellows,"  I  said;  "  who  can  fathom  such 
misery  ?  and  that  poor  blind  woman's  face 
haunts " 

"  Was  she  telling  ye  the  King  and  Queen 
yince  honoured  her  by  speakin'  to  her  ?  "  inter- 
rupted Mrs  Mac  Mil  Ian. 

"Oh,  by  the  bye,"  I  said,  "I  had  almost 
forgotten  that.  She  told  me  that  the  King  and 
Queen,  when  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales, 
once  spoke  to  them  when  camping  near 
Balmoral,  and  that  on  another  occasion  the 
Duchess  of  Fife  gave  her  a  sovereign.  When  I 
asked  if  she  had  kept  that  sovereign,  she 
replied  : 

"  'Deed,  I  wad  hae  liked  to,  but  I  had  to  let 
it  gaun  for  bedclaes  and  claes  for  the  bairns.'  " 

"  That's  an  example,  na,"  said  Mrs  Mac- 
Millan,  ambiguously. 

"  But  it  isn't  quite  unique,"  I  replied,  and 
then  I  told  them  about  a  similar  kindness  shown 
to  Gypsies  near  Windsor  by  her  Majesty,  our 
late  Queen,  and  of  the  gratitude  expressed  by 
the  Gypsies — 

"  .So  if  she  wants  a  man  to  box, 
I'll  fight  her  battles,  never  fear  ; 
'Twas  dry  work  talking  of  the  socks^ 
Let's  drink  the  Queen's  good  health  in  beer." 


IQO  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

"  Tinklers,"  I  added,  "  are  just  like  other 
folks  ;  they  have  their  ups  and  downs,  and 
there's  good  and  bad  amongst  them." 

"  We  get  the  name  o'  being  a  bad  lot,  and 
■God  kens  we're  far  frae  gude  ;  but  '  they're  no 
a'  Tinklers  that  wield  the  budget,'  "  she  replied, 
and  her  remark  is  full  of  meaning. 

Geordie  said,  "  We'll  soon  be  driven  off  the 
road." 

"  'Deed  ay,  faith,"  echoed  his  wife. 

"  Na,"  objected  Leezie  Morrison,  a  Marshall 
who  was  nursing  a  baby,  "  they're  no  fit  to  do 
that,  but  they  micht  make  us,  in  the  mterest 
o'  oor  bairns,  hae  oor  beds  twa  feet  aff  the 
grun'." 

"  'Deed  ay,"  agreed  Mrs  MacMillan,  as  she 
drew  her  little  hunchback  boy  more  closely  to 
her  bosom,  and  then  said  feelingly — ''  There's 
mony  a  yin  meets  his  death  wi'  sleepin'  on  wat 
strae." 

Surely  Leezie's  suggestion  is  worthy  of  an  Act 
of  Parliament  all  to  itself.  It  is  simple,  and 
would  prevent  disease  and  the  spreading  of  dis- 
eise,  and  confer  a  real  boc^i  both  on  Tinklers 
and  the  public. 

Mrs  MacMillan  commenced  to  talk  generally 
about  the  life  of  the  Tmkler,  but  I  "airted"  her 
on  to  speak  of  folk-tales,  and  she  replied — 

"  Losh,  ye're  a  real  rau^^e  qadgi  that  wad  listen 


"  The  Steed  o'  Bells:'  191 

to  ony  such  trash.  Lo"d,  my  brither,  Stewart, 
wad  juist  delicht  ye,  for  lie  never  tires  o'  tellin' 
auncient  tales.  He  steyed  \vi'  me  for  a  while 
at  Whithorn  last  wunter,  and  whunever  he  saw 
me  dull,  he  wad  say  '  Come  on,  Mary,  and  I'll 
tell  ye  a  fairy  tale,'  and  wi'  his  gestures,  girns, 
and  granes,  he  wadna  be  lang  till  he  had  us  a' 
roarin'."' 

That  statement  contains  a  remarkable  con- 
firmation of  the  late  Mr  Leland's  and  Mr  David 
MacRitchie's  theory  about  fairy  tales  serving  as 
a  sort  of  religion  and  sol  ice  in  time  of  suffering. 

Presently  a  shower  of  rain  came  on,  and  I 
drew  the  little  dwarf  boy  in  between  my  knees 
out  of  the  rain.  Whilst  he  sat  there  he  told 
the  wonderful  folk-tale  : 

"The  Steed  o'  Bells." 

"In  former  days  there  were  old  Kings  and 
Queens.  They  lived  long  together.  This 
■Queen  and  King  were  married,  and  had  two 
sons,  John  and  William.  The  Queen  took 
trouble  and  died.  After  a  few  years  the  King 
felt  lonely,  and  he  said  to  the  young  gentlemen  : 

"  '  I  think  I'll  marry.'  His  second  Queen 
was  a  young  lady  unmarried.  They  lived  a 
long  time  together.  She  thought  she  would 
like  a  family.  She  did  not  like  her  step-sons 
William  and  John.  She  went  to  the  old  hen 
witch  and  said  : 


192  The  Tinkler  Gxpsies. 

"  '  I  am  a  young  lady,  and  I  would  give  any 
money  of  gold  and  silver  if  only  I  had  a  family. 
He  adores  those  two  sons,  and  if  I  should  have 
a  family  to  him  perhaps  he  would  like  them.  If 
you  can  make  war  with  those  two  boys  I'll  give 
you  a  peck  of  gold  and  silver.' 

"  '  I  can  do  that,  Queen.  Go  you  home  to 
your  bed.  Kill  the  best  fresh  young  chicken, 
and  drink  its  blood.  Lie  down  and  be  very 
bad.  Send  for  your  maid,  and  when  she  comes 
tell  her  you  want  your  husband,  and  be  vomiting 
blood.'  She  feigns  illness,  and  when  the  waiter 
comes  the  Queen  says  : 

"  '  Fetch  my  husband  to  me  immediately, 
waiter.     I  am  going  to  die.'     The  King  came. 

"  '  What  is  the  matter,  my  loving  lady  ?' 
Another  mouthful  of  blood.  '  She's  vomiting 
blood  ! ' 

"  '  Is  there  nothing  would  make  you  better  ? 
I  will  surely  provide  it.' 

"  '  Nothing  but  one  thing.  It  is  the  Steed  o' 
Bells.'  (This  is  a  mare,  the  stalls'  best,  all  clad 
with  silver  bells.) 

"  '  If  I  don't  get  it,'  pleads  the  Queen,  '  I  will 
die.  You  have  two  sons.  They  must  go  and 
find  it.' 

"  The  King  called  the  two  sons,  and  fetched 
the  two  young  gentlemen  to  the  bedside. 

"  '  Sons,  you  will  do  this.' 


"  The  Steed  d  Bells.''  195 

"  '  Well,  father,  it  is  death  for  us,  but  we  will 
go,  my  brother  and  I.' 

"  Each  gentleman  got  a  parcel  of  victuals. 
Each  gentleman  jumped  on  a  steed  and  said 
good-bye.  They  rode  farther  than  you  can  tell 
me,  or  I  can  teil  you.  and  reached  cross-roads. 
The  signboard  said  : 

"  '  You  may  go  thnt  way,  but  you  shall  not 
come  back.  You  may  go  that  road,  you  may 
not  come  back.'  The  one  brother  jumped 
down,  so  did  the  other. 

"  'We'll  have  a  little  refreshment.' 

"  They  took  a  little  food,  and  AVilliam  said  to 
John  : 

"  '  1  will  let  you,  the  youngest  son,  go,  and  if 
you  do  come  back,  in  one  year  and  one  day  you 
and  I  shall  meet  here.'  They  shook  hands. 
John  rode  on  and  on,  farther  than  I  can  tell 
you,  or  you  can  tell  me,  until  his  horse  and 
himself  were  hungry  and  tired  and  drouthy. 

"  '  I  will  give  my  horse  some  grass  and  have 
some  food.'  This  young  nobleman  sat  down 
and  opened  his  small  parcel,  and  a  totie  wee 
thmg,  with  a  wee  red  mutch  and  a  wee  red 
cloak,  came  up  to  him. 

"  '  You  are  comforting  yourself.  Give  me  a 
bit  of  your  piece  and  your  meat.'  The  gentle- 
man divided  the  piece  and  the  meat  with  this 
wee  creature.  So  it  stood  alongside  of  him  and 
said  : 


194  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

"  '  Mail}-  thanks  for  great  kindness.  I  know 
■where  you're  going.  You'll  lose  your  life.  I  will 
•do  you  a  good  turn.' 

"  '  I  hope  you  will  do  what  you  can  do.' 

"  '  \\'ell,  jump  on  your  steed,'  said  she,  for 
the  totie  wee  bodie  was  a  lassie.  The  gentle- 
man jumped  on  his  steed,  and  told  her  to  get 
up  beside  him. 

"  '  No,  no  :  I  will  go  as  fast  as  you.  You 
must  look  at  me  well.  I  have  something  to 
say.  I  will  convoy  you  loo  miles.  Soon  we 
■will  come  to  an  iron  gate  with  two  large 
pillars.  You  and  your  horse  would  not  go 
through  it  nor  jump  it.  I  will  open  it  for  you. 
"W'hen  you  cross  this  gate  you  will  go  into  a 
field  of  lions.  Some  may  be  sleeping,  some 
grazing,  some  going  about.  They  will  make  at 
the  horse  to  eat  you  and  the  horse,  ^^l•len  I 
open  the  gate  sorne  will  be  sleeping  and  the 
rest  going  about,  but  when  they  get  a  certain 
distance  from  you,  you  will  put  your  left  hand 
into  the  left  ear  of  your  horse,  pull  something 
out,  and  scatter  it  all  round  you,  and  in  place  of 
attacking  you  they  will  fly  for  this.' 

"  '  Thanks.'  This  wee  creature  and  he  rode 
on  a  long  distance.  They  came  to  this  great 
iron  gate.     The  wee  bodie  said  : 

"  '  You  cannot  open  this.  Your  horse  cannot 
jump  it.'  She  i)ut  her  wee  linger  on  it  and  the 
^^ate  opened. 


"  The  Steed  r/  Bellsr  195 

"  '  Now  drive  on  and  on,  and  remember,  put 
your  hand  in  your  horse's  ear  when  they  are 
coming  to  devour  you.'  He  put  his  hand  to 
his  horse's  ear.  When  he  pulled  something  out 
it  was  like  your  finger  and  was  like  a  tablecloth 
with  things  for  the  animals. 

"  He  went  on  300  miles.  He  came  to  another 
iron  gate.  They  were  both  done.  It  was  night. 
The  birds  were  going  to  rest. 

"  '  I  will  sit  down  and  eat.'  He  sat  down. 
Another  wee  thing  came  to  him  with  a  wee  red 
cap  and  a  wee  red  mantle. 

"  '  You  will  not  slumber.  I  ken  whaur  you're 
gaun.  Many  a  hundred  young  gentlemen  come 
this  journey  and  never  come  back.' 

"  '  I  must  try  my  best.' 

"  '  I  am  vexed  to  see  you.  You  are  a  noble- 
man's son.  Give  me  a  bit  of  your  piece  and  a 
wee  bit  of  your  meat.' 

"  '  I  will  do  that.'  So  he  divided  with  her. 
She  stood  beside  him  till  he  took  his  refresh- 
ment, and  it  would  be  wailted. 

"  '  Now  I  know  where  you're  going.  You 
are  a  noble  King's  son.  Your  stepmother  is 
leading  you  astray.  I  will  put  you  on  a  plan. 
I  will  open  this  gate.  The  field  is  full  of  tigers. 
You  put  your  right  hand  mto  the  horse's  right 
ear.  You  will  find  a  wee  thing.  You  will  pull 
it  out  and  scatter  it.    They'll  not  have  power  to 


196  The  Tinkkf-Gypsies. 

touch  you,  and  you'll  keep  the  steed  for  speed. 
You  will  come  to  another  gate,  and  meet  a 
little  boy  there  beside  it.  Good-bye.'  So  the 
gentleman  rode  on,  farther  than  I  could  tell  you 
or  you  could  tell  me,  till  he  came  to  this  tiger 
place.  They  come  in  their  direction  to  devour 
him  and  his  horse.  He  put  his  hand  into  his 
horse's  right  ear,  found  something  like  a  wee 
thread,  a  tablecloth,  and  scattered  it  out — all 
sorts  of  things  for  the  animals.  He  went 
through  that  place  and  came  to  this  other  iron 
gate.  It  would  be  three  or  four  hundredweights. 
He  couldn't  open  it.  His  horse  was  done.  He 
himself  was  done.     It  was  getting  dark. 

"  '  I  will  feed  my  steed.'  He  let  his  horse  go 
and  opened  his  parcel.  Up  came  a  wee  old- 
looking  boy,  bareheaded  and  barefooted. 

"  '  It  is  a  good  day.' 

"  '  Yes.' 

"  '  You  are  very  fatigued  looking.  I  know 
where  you  are  going.  Man,  would  you  give  a 
wee  boy  a  share  ?' 

"  '  Yes,'  said  the  nobleman.  He  divided  his 
piece.  This  boy  had  no  shoes  nor  stockings. 
They  sat  together  and  refreshed  themselves. 
He  said  : 

"  '  Nobleman,  I  am  going  to  speak  to  you. 
Will  you  take  me  with  you  for  a  servant  ?' 

"  '  I  have  no  place  to  put  you.' 


"  The  Steed  d  Bells r  197 

"  '  Just  you  say  that  you  will  take  me,  and  I 
will  be  a  worthy  servant.' 

"  '  Well,  well,  come  with  me.  Your  feet  will 
be  tired.     Jump  on  behind  or  before.' 

"  '  I  will  travel  beside  you.' 

"  '  But  I  must  drive  my  steed.' 

"  '  You  are  going  to  steal  the  Steed  o'  Bells 
from  the  Crystal  Palace.  It  was  your  step- 
mother sent  you  to  lose  your  life,  and  you  have 
a  brother  in  the  t'other  direction.' 

"  '  Well,  well,  come  along.'  No  matter  how 
hard  he  galloped  the  boy  ran  beside  him.  He 
came  to  a  great,  great  castle.     He  said  : 

"  '  You  must  wait  here.  This  is  an  uncle  of 
mine.  I  have  a  message,  and  you  must  wait 
till  I  come  back.'  So  the  gentleman  pulled  up 
his  bridle.  The  boy  went  away  and  came  back 
with  boots  and  stockings.  John  mounted  his 
steed  again,  and  the  boy  kept  up  with  the 
horse,  always  cracking  and  keeping  him  in 
great  comfort. 

"  '  Now  here's  another.  This  is  a  cousin. 
I  must  go  to  him.     Don't  leave  me.' 

"  '  I  wnll  wait.'  He  went  to  this  great  castle. 
He  came  up  with  a  bonnet  and  a  bell  and  the 
cloak  of  darkness. 

"  '  What  do  you  think  of  me  now  ?' 

"  '  I  think  a  lot  of  you.' 

*• '  I  have  just  one  friend  to  call  on  now,  and 


ig8  The  Tinkler  Gypsies. 

then  we  will  enter  the  Crystal  Palace.  You  see 
the  sun  shining  bright.  You  will  see  a  great 
spire  shining  like  stars.  Yon's  the  Crystal 
Palace.  We'll  either  lose  or  win  there.  There 
is  another  great  castle.  A  relation  of  mine 
lives  there.  I  am  going  down.  Wait  on  me.' 
He  went  away  walking,  but  came  back  riding  a 
beautiful  black  steed. 

"'What  do  you  think  of  me  now?' 

"  '  More  than  ever.'  They  rode  along.  He 
said  : 

"  '  Put  your  glass  on  and  take  a  look.  You 
see  the  Crystal  Palace  now  ?  I  am  your 
servant.  I  have  to  do  a  servant's  duty  to  my 
master,  but  whatever  is  to  be  done  you  must 
obey  me.' 

"  '  I  am  quite  agreeable.' 

"  '  When  we  come  in  front  of  the  Crystal 
Palace  we  will  come  on  giants  who  will  swallow 
us  like  a  drink  of  water.  But  I  know  where  the 
Steed  o'  Bells  stands,  and  the  King  of  the 
Crystal  Palace  sleeps  by  himself,  and  so  does 
the  Queen.  They  will  be  in  a  heavy  slumber. 
When  we  go  in  the  chamber  door  will  fly  open. 
You  will  see  a  fine  young  lady  lying  sleeping. 
Put  your  hand  under  the  pillow.  \'ou  will  find 
the  keys.  We  are  all  right  if  the  bells  don't 
ring.'  This  noble  Queen's  door  flew  open. 
He  put  his  hand  under  the  pillow  and  got  the 


'■'The  Steed  d  Bells''  199 

keys.  He  came  out  to  the  lad  now  all  clad  in 
the  cloak  of  darkness.     Said  he  : 

" '  Now  our  hardships  are  only  to  commence. 
This  gentleman  of  the  Crystal  Palace  was  once 
a  little  baby,  and  one  of  these  giants  lifted  him 
and  took  him  to  his  house  and  told  a  female 
servant  to  make  a  pie  of  him.  When  the  giant 
went  away  the  King's  son  Jack  happened  to  be 
there  and  said  to  her  : 

"  '  I  will  save  your  life  and  the  babe's.  Cut 
a  bit  off  its  finger  and  put  it  in  the  pie — and  the 
King  thought  it  was  baby's  pie.  But  the 
servant  took  the  baby  away  and  reared  him  at  a 
shepherd's  house.'  They  went  to  the  stable  and 
opened  it.  The  Steed  turned  round — the  most 
beautiful  black  animal  all  hung  round  with  shin- 
ing bells.     The  bells  began  to  jingle  and  ring. 

"  '  I  have  got  you  now  !'  roared  the  giant.  'I 
have  the  furnace  waiting  for  you.'  But  the  bare- 
footed boy  said  to  the  King  who  had  been 
awakened  from  his  slumber  : 

"'Whoa,  my  King!  I  did  not  let  you  be 
bound  and  made  a  pie  of.  I  saved  your  life  as 
a  babe.  Have  mercy  on  my  master.  Look  at 
your  hand.'  When  he  looked  he  saw  his  finger 
was  away.     The  King  said  : 

"  '  Are  you  my  friend  of  the  Crystal  Palace 
who  saved  me  ?  Hundreds  and  hundreds  have 
come  to  steal  the  Steed  o'  Bells.     I  will  save 


200  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

your  lives,'  and  then,  turning  lo  John,  he  said  : 
'  You  get  the  Steed  o'  Bells  in  a  present,  but 
when  you  go  home  you  are  to  kiss  your  step- 
mother and  tell  her  she  is  to  get  corn  and  hay 
for  food.'  Well,  my  boy  and  gentleman  came 
along  a  considerable  distance  together  till  they 
came  to  the  first  place  and  went  in,  and  there- 
after his  wee  fairies  convoyed  him  safely  home. 
Millions  of  gentlemen  hjst  their  lives  trying  to 
steal  the  Steed  o'  Bells,  but  could  not  manage 
it.  This  young  nobleman  rode  along  and  his 
wee  fairy  always  came  to  him. 

"  '  You  got  a  very  nice  present.  Have  you 
got  a  piece  ? '  and  he  never  failed  to  give  them 
a  good  one.  So  it  came  on  to  the  last  day  and 
he  was  coming  to  his  native  place.  lie  arrived 
at  the  cross  roads.  He  galloped  up  and  down ! 
'  I  went  that  road.  My  brother  wouldn't  come, 
but,  hark  !  I  hear  him  whistling  on  me.  One 
year  and  one  day  we  should  meet  on  this  spot.' 
William  hears  the  bells.  He  sets  his  steed  away 
and  sees  his  brother's  steed  come  flying. 

"  '  Well,  you  did  not  choose  to  come  with 
me,  but  you  did  come  to  meet  me.  Here  is 
the  wonderful  Steed  o'  Bells.  Now,  then,  what 
are  you  going  to  give  to  the  old  lady?  Will  we 
give  her  her  death  as  she  intended  to  give  us  ?' 

"  '  We  will  put  a  bit  in  her  mouth  and  feed 
her   on    corn    and    hay   till    she    dies.'      They 


"  The  Steed  d  Be  Us."  20  ( 

landed  at  the  Palace,  and  their  father  came  out. 
He  was  overjoyed  when  he  saw  them  bringing 
•with  them  the  Steed  o'  Bells,  and  said  : 

"  '  My  lady  will  be  spared  now.'  They  were 
entertained  to  a  fine  banquet.  They  went  to  the 
place  where  the  Queen  was  lying.  They  kissed 
her.      John  said  : 

"  '  You  got  your  wish  for  your  wife  and  your 
lady.' 

"  '  Yes.' 

"  '  Well,'  said  he  to  the  Queen,  '  we  have  got 
your  cure,  the  Steed  o'  Bells.  You  said  you 
would  give  us  our  wish.' 

"  '  Yes.' 

"  '  Well,  our  wish  is  that  our  father  will  get  a 
bed  put  on  the  highest  turret,  and  that  you  will 
go  mto  the  bed  and  eat  corn  and  hay  till 
30U  die.' 

"  Our  horses  are  running  around  the  castle, 
our  bagpipes  are  playing,  our  drums  are  beating, 
and  the  jingling  and  music  from  the  Steed  o' 
Bells  as  it  pranced  up  and  down  could  be  heard 
far  farther  than  I'll  tell  you  or  you'll  tell  me. 
The  Queen  from  the  lonely  turret  looks  over  to 
see  what  was  going  on  below  when  down  bed 
and  lady  and  all  tumbled,  and  that's  what 
comes  of  all  wicked  stepmothers." 

A  dark  object  appeared,  on  the  knoll,  against 
the  lingering  sun';et  light. 


20  2  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

"  JA;//«  (talk)  to  her,"  said  Mrs  MarMillan, 
and  then  under  her  breath  she  added,  "  It's  the 
wumman  I  promised  to  get  a  sweetheart  for, 
whun  I  sell'd  her  the  wee  pingle." 

"Has  he  no  come  yet,  \oung  wumman?" 
she  asked,  addressing  her. 

"No." 

"  Oh,  he'll  come  yet." 

"  I'm  tired  waitin'." 

"  WuU  ye  no  sit  doon  and  gie's  yer  crack  ?  "" 
then  louder,  so  that  all  the  camps  could  hear  : 

"  It's  the  i'arra  raii^i^e  inanisiii "  (big  silly 
woman). 

Then  from  a  distant  c.imp  came  an  English 
Tinkler's  voice  : 

"  Come  over  here,  my  little  jit-hi-jii,  and  I'll 
be  your  doxy-poxy  "  (sweetheart). 

"  Gude  nicht,''  she  said,  and  ran  away. 

"  Glide  nicht,  young  woman,"  shouted  Mrs- 
MacMillan,  "he'll  come  in  the  mornin'." 

Mrs  MaclNlillan  again  took  the  hunchback 
on  her  knees,  and  soon  he  was  sound 
asleep  in  her  arms.  He  was  snugly  clad 
in  a  tartan  suit.  When  Mrs  MacMiUan 
started  to  unlace  his  boots--a  strong  p.iir — 
I  rose  to  go  ;  but  I  noticed  that  there  wasn't 
a  hole  in  his  stockings.  She  laid  him 
quietly  to  bed  without  even  wakening  him — so- 
(juietly  and  tenderly  did  she  handle  him. 


A  Tinklers'  Encauipuient.  203 

On  my  way  fron  camp,  after  bidding  adieu  to 
my  friends,  I  met  William  Marshall.       1  asked  : 

"  Do  you  never  tire  of  this  kind  of  life  ?" 

He  replied  without  hesitation  : 

"  I  like  a  free  life  in  the  open  air,  and  we're 
as  happy  as  the  birds  on  the  tree.  I'm  come  o' 
the  real  aul'  oreeginals.  The  life  answer't  them, 
and  it'll  do  me  my  time." 

"  Good-night,  King  William,"  said  I. 

''  Gude  nicht,  yer  honour,"  he  replied.  "  I'm 
jawin  awast  (going  away)  the  morn's  iiwrgeii 
(to-morrow  morning),  an'  whun  I  iiash  avree  (go 
away)  I  hope  the  country  hanile  (folks)  wunna 
be  gloyin'  (laughing)  at  ye  or  makin'  a  ai/I  o' 
yer  nesis  (a  fool  of  you)  for  i}niiis;nn  (talking)  to 
us  and  us  like.  Gude  nicht,  yer  honour,"  he 
repeated,  adding  this  time,  "  and  gude  luck 
to  ye." 


^^:i 


iijj"ftMj' 

I 


CHAPTER    V. 


Can  youy'rtj  to  starihen  ? 
Can  you  lei  a  kosht  ? 
Can  you  besh  under  a  bor 
Can  you  kel  the  bosh  ? 
Misto  !  Roinani-chal 
Del  les  ad  It'  his  7)iiii 

S'help  me  diri  dalikeii  ! 
You  can  kitr  inistd' 
Said  the  Romani  chai  to 
the  Romani  i  at  "" 


<<tA 


--^o.. .prison. 
— gather  ..sticks, 
—sit... hedge. 

—  play. ..fiddle. 

-Well  done  !  Gypsy  man. 
(Hit  him  in  his  face  (literally 
(      "  Give  it  "  him.) 

—  -dear  father. 

—  fight  well. 

j  Gypsy    girl... Gypsy  gentle- 
(^     man. 


IRK  VETHOL-M  has  for  many 
generations  been  regarded  as  the 
capital  of  the  Scotch  Tinklers. 
The  colony  there  is,  however,  said 
to  be  almost  extinct,  and  yet  no  one 
who  knows  anything  about  the 
inherent  love  for  moving  about  of  those  peculiar 
people  will  doubt  that  there  are  still  [)lenty  of 
Tinklers  in  the  Border  counties.  Let  anyone  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Kirk  Yetholm  make  it 
known  to  a  Tinkler  that  he  takes  a  genuine 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  Egypt,  and  he  will  learn 
by  the  almost  daily  calls  which  he  \\\\\  receive 
from  Tinklers  that  there  are  still  plenty  of  the 
ra:e,  and  that  Gypsyin-j;  is  a  life  hard  to  relin- 


I/i grained  Habits.  205 

quish.  There  are  still  Gypsies  in  Kirk  Yeiholm, 
and  in  Swinton  there  is  quite  a  large  colony  of 
Tinklers,  or  muggers  as  they  are  called.  In 
Galloway,  too,  the  uninitiated  would  imagine 
that  the  race  was  well-nigh  extinct.  At  times, 
on  the  contrary,  and  by  actual  experience,  the 
writer  hereof  begins  to  wonder  if  there  are  any 
other  people  besides  Tinklers  in  Galloway  !  It 
is  astonishing  the  numbers  of  them  who  travel 
through  Galloway.  Some  stay  in  a  house  for  a 
few  weeks  in  the  dead  of  winter,  but  others 
never  have  any  shelter  other  than  may  be 
obtained  in  their  vans,  tents,  or  in  outhouses. 
In  spite  of  the  many  inducements  which  a 
settled  life  holds  out  to  them,  they  find  the 
greatest  difficulty  in  exchanging  for  such  the 
freedom  and  absence  of  care  which  accompany 
their  happy-go-lucky  life  in  the  open  air.  The 
following  is  a  concrete  example  of  the  struggle 
which  Tinklers  have  to  pass  through  in  giving 
up  their  nomadic  life  : — At  a  court  recently 
held  at  Wigtown  for  registration  of  parliamentary^ 
voters  a  claim  was  put  forward  on  behalf  of  a 
Marshall,  his  qualification  being  stated  as 
inhabitant  occupier  of  six  different  dwelling- 
houses  within  the  qualifying  period.  He  had 
actually  occupied  six  dwelling-houses  inside  the 
twelve  months  !  The  present  writer  had  an 
opportunity  of  opposing  the  claim,  but,  needless 


2o6  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

to  say,  he  could  not  see  his  way  to  discourage 
such  a  vahant  effort  to  obtain  the  badge  of 
•citizenship. 

The  firm  administration  of  just  laws  has  done 
much  to  tone  down  the  fierce  nature  of  the 
Tinkler.  Any  acts  of  violence  committed  by 
them  usually  occur  during  a  jollification.  On 
such  occasions,  when  under  the  influence  of 
John  Barleycorn,  if  one  may  judge  from  an 
Irish  traveller's  dictum,  they  look  at  matters 
somewhat  obliquely  :  "  Ach,  sure,  whin  tliim 
Marshalls  get  a  neggin  or  two  o'  skaihope 
(whisky)  there'll  be  the  divil  an'  all  to  pay.  Ye 
never  know  how  they'll  be  afther  taking  ov  a 
joke.  If  it  doesn't  stroike  them  aroight,  then 
begorra  ye  may  just  stand  up  and  get  yer  nose 
broke.     I've  had  to  do  it  many's  the  time." 

Ructions  amongst  them  frequently  have  their 
■origin  in  horse-dealing  transactions.  A  Gallo- 
way Tinkler,  slightly  under  the  influence  of 
drink,  was  recently  observed  elbowing  his  way 
through  a  crowd  at  a  horse  fair.  Another 
Tinkler — a  Yetholm  lad — was  busy  showing  off 
the  paces  of  a  poor  looking  old  horse.  He 
turned  the  horse  right  in  front  of  the  Galloway 
Tinkler  as  he  emerged.  The  Galloway  Tinkler 
gave  the  horse  a  whack  with  his  whip  over  the 
back — but  the  rider,  although  also  the  worse  of 
■drink,  had   little  difficulty   in   retaining  his  seat. 


Tinklers'  Ructions.  207 

^rhe  Galloway  Tinkler  ran  up  to  the  other,  and, 
taking  the  horse  by  the  head,  enquired  : 

"  What  are  ye  speirin'  for  him  ?" 

"  A  flimsy  {;^s)  ^^^^  y^^'  nawken  (Tinkler),  or 
duce flimsies  (y;£,\o)  frae  ■a. gadgV  (house-dweller). 

"  Baa,"  said  the  Galloway  Tinkler,  "  I'll  gi'e 
ye  the  geiuiitan  (half-breed  cuddy)  foi't  if  ye'U 
gi'e  me  a  r4'  (pound)  byi.  He's  a  meghrin'" 
(staggered  horse). 

"  Go  on  wi'  ye,  wha  ever  heard  o'  a  three- 
year-aul'  jawin  (falling)  on  his  test  (head). 
Deek  (look)  at  his  mun  "  (mouth).  The  Gallo- 
way Tinkler  did  so,  and  laughingly  replied  : 

"  Get  out  wi'  ye,  he's  a  hammy''  (bad-mouthed 
horse). 

"  A  shan  hatver  (bad  feeder)  that  could  ha 
(eat)  a  gaunie  d  geeve  ?  ''  (bag  of  corn). 

"  Syet "  (ay),  retorted  the  Galloway  Tinkler, 
"if  he  ever  deeks  (sees)  it.  Deek  (look)  at  his 
tramplers  (feet),  they  couldna  jaiv  (carry)  a 
gaunie  d  geeve  alang  the  droni  (road).  Bing 
mackem  (throw  puddled  clay)  on  his  shan 
tramplers  (bad  feet)  and/fr>^  (take)  ih^  grye  aree 
(horse  away)  oot  o'  deekment  (sight)  an'  dinna 
let  the  cleechy  deek  (policeman  see)  them.  A 
grye  feniniler  (horse  dealer)  maun  hae  wannered 
(sold)  the  prod  (done  horse)  to  ye  in  the  dark- 
nient  (night-time)  or  when  ye  were  bumie " 
(drunk). 


2o8  The  Ti/ik/er-Gvpsies. 

"  Ruffert  (no).  F ,  the  unciioneer  (auc- 
tioneer), wantiered  me  the  j^rye  at  a  /evei  go  " 
(square  bargain). 

"  Syet,"  jeered  the  Galloway  Tinkler,  "but 
ye  hinged'*'  him." 

"You're  a " 

"  He's  only  gude,"  flouted  the  Galloway 
Tinkler,  "  for  viulle-mass  (dead  meat)  for  the 
nyowhicheats  "  (cats). 

"  VW.  p  agger  (break;  your  test"  (head),  roared 
the  Yetholm  lad  as  he  cut  him  across  the  face 
with  his  whi[x 

Writhing  with  pain  and  mad  with  anger,  the 
Galloway  Tinkler  sprang  at  him,  dragged  him 
from  his  horse,  and  flung  him  to  the  ground. 

Two  other  Tinklers  rushed  up  and  interfered 
to  prevent  the  Galloway  Tinkler  from  wreaking 
his  vengeance  on  him  as  he  lay  on  the   ground. 

But  these  two  Tinklers — a  son  and  son-in-law 
of  one  of  the  fighters — had  no  thought  of  stop- 
ping the  fight,  and  during  the  remainder  of  it 
stood  by  thoroughly  entering  into  the  fun.  Off 
went  the  Galloway  Tinkler's  coat  and  vest,  and 
the  crowd,  which  had  collected,  speedily  scat- 
tered as  he  rushed  like  a  mad  bull  at  his  oppo- 
nent.     They  met  with  a  dull  thud,  and  both 

*  To  "  hing  "  a  dealer  is  to  sell  him  a  horse  for  a  sum 
of  monev,  pay  him  half  the  price,  and  owe  him  the 
balance  ! 


Tinklers'  Ructio/is.  209 

fell  heavily  to  the  ground.  From  the  Tinklers' 
and  trenchers'  tents  and  vans  which  lined  the 
field  the  women  folks,  attracted  by  the  shout- 
ing of  the  combatants  and  the  crowd,  came 
streaming  over.  In  a  trice  they  forced  their 
way  into  the  ring,  and  then  the  crowd  swayed 
hither  and  thither.  After  a  time,  amidst 
shouts  of  '■^ /oiidnie  "...'■'■  wapsie" ...Sind  other 
stinging,  ashamed  of  frailties,  and  much  tearing 
of  hair  on  the  part  of  the  rival  factions  of  women, 
there  emerged  from  the  crowd  a  dark,  thick-set, 
powerful  virago,  gripping  as  in  a  vice  by  the 
hand  her  lord  and  master.  He  apparently  did 
not  resist  his  queen,  who,  wearing  a  pair  of 
strong  taehis  (shoes),  plain  blue  duffle  toggrie 
(dress),  a  red  mortsplashtie  (shawl),  and  a  black 
howfie  (bonnet),  had  quite  a  commanding  ap- 
pearance. The  Galloway  Tinkler,  as  she  led 
him  along,  kept  hurling  back  the  choicest 
of  epithets  at  his  quondam  opponent ;  his 
shirt  hung  in  rags  around  him,  and  blood, 
streamed  down  his  cheeks,  but  this  was  the 
result  of  the  cut  with  the  whip.  The  fight 
was  said  to  have  been  a  drawn  one.  Later 
on  he  and  two  men  of  the  same  gang  were 
seen  hurrying  across  the  market  field  in  the 
direction  of  the  Yetholm  Tinkler's  tent,  and 
the  fight  was  renewed  but  without  decisive  re- 
sult.    It  is  even  said  that  it  was  fought  again 


2  I  o  The  Tinkler-  Gypsies. 

and  again  on  different  camping  grounds,  until 
at  The  Ferry  camp  the  Galloway  Tinkler,  after 
an  hour's  hard  fighting,  was  proclaimed  the 
victor.  But  humps  and  bruises,  the  satiating 
punishment  of  the  ancient  and  honourable  trial 
by  fisticuffs — the  parent  of  all  courts — is  now 
deemed  inadequate,  and  so  these  hardy  and 
manly  administrators  of  the  primeval  and  funda- 
mental law  of  the  realm  had  to  appear  before 
their  evolved  betters  (?),  and  were  subjected  to 
the  indignity  of  a  plebeian  7/6  or  five  days. 

That  is  how  Tinklers  occasionally  misbehave 
themselves  nowadays,  but  they  almost  invari- 
ably confine  such  attentions  to  those  of  their 
own  class — and  after  all  it  is  not  the  worst  way 
for  such  people  to  settle  their  disputes. 

By  way  of  contrast  one  may  profitably  at  this 
juncture  allude  to  the  description  (as  contained 
in  M'Dowall's  History  of  Dumfries^  p.  512  et 
seq  )  of  the  Kennedies,  "  who  made  Mid- 
Annandale  their  chief  haunt,"  the  Gordons 
"  whose  tents  were  chiefly  set  up  in  Dtyfesdale 
and  on  the  Galloway  side  of  the  Nith,"  and  the 
Baillies  "who  roamed  about  in  all  directions  and 
•were  ranked  as  the  '  upper  ten  '  of  the  Tinkler 
tribes  "  :  "  And  truly  to  see  a  band  of  Baillies 
mounted  on  horseback  attired  in  coats  of  scarlet 
or  Lincoln  green,  rufiled  in  front  and  at  the 
wrist,  booted  and  spurred,  with  cocked  hats  for 


Phuto  by 


Pretty  Partners. 


Miss  Bryden. 


2  12  The  Tink/er-Gvpsies. 

head  gear,  armed  with  swords  and  pistols,  and 
followed  by  hunting  dogs,  was  an  imposing 
spectacle  that  went  far  to  vindicate  their  claim 
to  high  descent  and  gentle  blood." 

To  complete  the  contrast  let  us  turn  again  to 
the  sad  case  of  Jock  Johnstone,  briefly  alluded 
to  in  chapter  iv.  Jock  Johnstone  belonged  to 
a  humbler  Tinkler  gang  than  the  Baillies,  and 
his  tragic  end  will  help  to  illustrate  the  darker 
feature  of  so  frequent  occurrence  in  Gypsy  life  of 
bygone  days.  The  Gypsy  race  have  a  bad 
record  for  such  crimes,  but  in  judging  of  them 
let  us  not  forget  that  unjust  laws  and  a  weak, 
vacillating,  and  grossly  unequal  administration 
thereof  did  much  to  foster  a  spirit  of  revenge  in 
the  hearts  of  Gypsies,  and  to  bring  about  such 
crimes'"  : — 

"On  the  7th  March,  1732,  John  (or,  as  he 
was  usually  termed,  Jock)  Johnstone  was,  with 
several  other  Tinklers,  found  guilty  by  the  Kirk- 
cudbright Justices  of  being  '  an  Egyptian 
vagrant  and  sorner '  ;  and  for  such  negative 
crimes  he  was  whipped  through  the  Bridge-end, 
and  then  burned  on  the  cheek.  This  was  not 
the  first  or  last  time  in  which  John  suffered 
punishment ;  but  all  the  stripes,  scorchings,  and 
imprisonments  he  was  subjected  to  did  no  more 
to  cure  his  wandering  and  thievish  disposition 
than  to  take  the  tan  from  his  visage.      \\'hen 


An  Attempt  to  Cheat  the  Woodie.      213 

Jock  was  roaming  about  he  was  invariably 
accompanied  by  quite  a  seraglio  of  women  ;  and 
on  one  occasion — ever  memorable  to  him — he 
withdrew  with  some  of  them  to  a  small  ale- 
house, kept  by  an  old  widow  named  Margaret 
Parish,  at  Parkgate,  eight  miles  from  Dumfries, 
on  the  road  to  Edinburgh.  A  quarrel  between 
one  of  his  concubines  and  the  hostess,  about 
the  price  of  the  liquor,  provoked  the  interfer- 
ence of  Jock.  Heated  with  drink  and  rage,  he 
repeatedly  struck  the  poor  old  woman  on  her 
head  with  a  heavy  pint  stoup  in  which  the  ale 
was  served,  killing  her  on  the  spot.  He  was 
apprehended  at  Lockerbie  next  day,  and  forth- 
with lodged  in  Dumfries  Tolbooth.  During 
the  dreary  interval  before  his  trial  he  was 
allowed  the  companionship  of  a  pet  jackdaw, 
which  had  travelled  the  district  with  him  in 
happier  days  for  them  both.  But  just  as  the 
judges  passed  the  prison,  on  their  way  to  the 
court,  the  heralds  of  the  procession  blew  a 
flourish  with  their  trumpets,  and  that  moment 
the  Gypsy's  feathered  favourite  dashed  convul- 
sively against  the  iron  bars  of  the  window,  and 
dropped  down  dead.  '  Lord  ha'e  mercy  on  me, 
for  I  am  gane  ! '  cried  Jock,  naturally  enough 
considering  that  the  fate  of  the  poor  daw  was 
ominous  of  his  own,  and  so  it  turned  out.  He 
was  condemned  to  die  ;  but  life  was  sweet,  and 


2  14  The  Tinkle) -Gypsies. 

he  resolved  to  keci)  it,  or  sell  it  dearly,  while 
deceitful  hope  buoyed  him  up  with  the  idea 
that  the  men  of  his  own  tribe  would  yet  enable 
him  to  elude  the  gallows.  Jock  doggedly  re- 
fused to  leave  liis  cell ;  and  as  he  was  one  of  the 
strongest  men  in  Dumfriesshire,  it  was  with  the 
utmost  difficulty  that  he  was  dragged  out  and 
carried  to  the  upper  storey,  from  the  front  of 
which  the  fatal  noose  hung  dangling,  waiting 
for  its  human  tassel.  The  convict  wanted  the 
thumbs  of  both  hands,  and  was  often  called 
'  Thoomie  Johnstone '  on  that  account  :  but  this 
defect  no  way  unfitted  him  from  maintaining  a 
tremendous  resistance.  Apprehensive  of  rescue, 
the  authorities  placed  a  hundred  stout  bu'- 
gesses,  armed  with  Lochaber  axes,  as  a  guard 
around  the  Tolbooth.  Eventually,  long  after 
the  appointed  hour,  the  figure  of  Johnstone  ap- 
peared at  the  scaffold,  enclosed  by  six  towit 
officers  ;  and  we  must  leave  the  scene  that 
ensued  to  be  described  by  the  Rev.  Dr  Carlyle, 
of  Invcresk,  who,  when  a  boy,  viewed  it  from 
the  neighbourhood  of  his  uncle  Provost  Bell's 
house,  which  was  situated  opposite  the  prison. 
'  When  Jock  first  issued  from  the  door,'  says 
Carl)le,  '  he  looked  a  little  astonished  ;  but 
looking  round  a  while,  he  proceeded  with  a 
bold  step.  P.salms  and  prayers  being  over,  the 
rope  was  fastened  about  his  neck,  and    he  was 


Jock  Johnsiotie  s  Tragic  End.  215 

prompted  to  ascend  a  short  ladder  fastened  to- 
the  gallows,  to  be  thrown  off.  Here  his  resist- 
ance and  my  terror  began.  Jock  was  curly- 
haired  and  fierce  looking,  and  very  strong  of  his 
size — about  five  feet  eight  inches.  The  moment 
they  asked  him  to  go  up  the  ladder  he  took 
hold  of  the  rope  around  his  neck,  which  was 
fastened  to  the  gallows,  and  with  repeated 
violent  pulls  attempted  to  pull  it  down,  and  his 
efforts  were  so  strong  that  it  was  feared  he  would 
have  succeeded.  The  crowd  in  the  meantime 
felt  much  emotion,  and  the  fear  of  the  magis- 
trates increased.  I  wished  myself  on  the  top  of 
Crififel,  or  anywhere  but  there.  But  the  attempt 
to  go  through  the  crowd  appeared  more  danger- 
ous than  to  stay  where  I  was.  I  returned  to  my 
station  again,  resolving  manfully  to  abide  the 
worst  extremity.  Jock  struggled  and  roared, 
for  he  became  like  a  furious  wild  beast,  and  all 
that  the  six  men  could  do  they  could  not  bind 
him  ;  and  having,  with  wrestling  hard,  forced 
up  the  pinions  on  his  arms,  they  were  afraid  and 
he  became  more  formidable;  when  one  of  the 
magistrates,  recollecting  that  there  was  a  master 
mason  or  carpenter  of  the  name  of  Baxter,  who 
was  by  far  the  strongest  man  in  Dumfries,  they 
with  difficulty  prevailed  on  him,  for  the  honour 
of  the  town,  to  come  on  the  scaffold.  He 
came,  and  putting  aside  the  six  men  who  were 


2i6  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

keeping  him  down,  he  seized  him,  and  made  no 
more  difficulty  than  a  nurse  does  in  handling 
her  child  ;  he  bound  him  hand  and  foot  in  a 
few  minutes,  and  laid  him  quietly  down  on  his 
face  near  the  edge  of  the  scaffold,  and  retired. 
Jock,  the  moment  he  felt  his  grasp,  found  him- 
self subdued,  and  became  calm  and  resigned 
himself  to  his  fate.'  Carlyle  closes  his  gra[)hic 
narrative  by  saying,  '  The  dreadful  scene  cost 
me  many  nights'  sleep  ' — a  circumstance  not  to 
be  wondered  at.  If  a  rescuing  party  of  Jock's 
friends  had  appeared  in  his  time  of  need  they 
would  very  likely  have  succeeded  in  carrying 
him  away  in  trium[)h." 

In  chapter  first  it  is  shown  that  Billy,  when 
he  succeeded  to  his  high  office  of  King  of  the 
Galloway  Gypsies,  at  once  set  about  redding  his 
"beat,"  which  included  Carrick,  in  Ayrshire — 
as  a  part  of  the  ancient  province  of  Galloway — 
of  the  other  Tinkler  bands  who  sought  to 
encioach  uptjn  it.  \\'e  have  seen  also  in 
chapter  ii.  that  Billy  was  appointed  and 
acted  as  Ringleader  of  "The  Levellers.'"  In 
further  testimony  of  his  being  thoroughly 
embued  with  the  militiry  s[)irit,  with  a  high 
sense  of  the  responsibilities  of  his  high  office, 
and  with  a  gn'm  determination  not  to  brook  any 
rivals  within  his  realms,  we  give  this  thorough- 
going specimen  of  the  "Tinkler  mettle  "  of  the 
old  days*-  : — 


' '  Tinkkfi.  'Mettled  217 

"After  Billy  was  firmly  seated  on  the  throne 
of  his  predecessor,  he  made  a  progress  over  his 
extensive  dominions,  with  an  intention  of 
punishing  severely  those  neighbouring  Gypsy 
chiefs  who  had  made  invasions  on  his  empire. 
'Twas  on  a  Sunday  forenoon  in  the  month  of 
April,  1707,  that  he,  along  with  part  of  his 
clan,  came  to  a  solitary  farm-house  on  the 
borders  of  Dumfries  and  Roxburgh  shires  in 
quest  of  a  gang  of  Teviotdale  Gypsies,  who,  he 
had  understood,  had  quartered  there  the  night 
before.  The  family  were  all  out  at  church 
except  one  female  left  to  look  after  the  house. 
No  sooner  had  Billy  and  his  train  arrived  than 
their  antagonists  turned  out  and  instantly  gave 
them  battle.  The  poor  woman  shut  the  door, 
and  remained  in  the  house  in  great  apprehen- 
sion until  the  door  was  suddenly  forced  open, 
when  one  of  the  combatants  rushed  into  the 
apartment,  and  she  perceived  with  horror  that 
his  left  hand  had  been  struck  off.  Without 
speaking  to  or  looking  at  her,  he  thrust  the 
bloody  stump,  with  desperate  resolution,  against 
the  glowing  bars  of  the  grate  ;  and  having 
staunched  the  blood  by  actual  cautery,  seized  a 
knife  used  for  killing  sheep,  which  lay  on  a 
-shelf,  and  rushed  out  again  to  join  the  combat. 
All  was  over  before  the  family  returned  from 
■church,  and  both  gangs  had  decamped,  carrying 


2i8  The  Ti/ik/er-Gypsies. 

probably  their  dead  and  wounded  nlong  with 
them  ;  for  the  place  where  the)'  fought  was 
absolutely  soaked  with  blood,  and  exhibited, 
among  other  reliques  of  the  fray,  the  amputated 
hand  of  the  wretch  w^hose  desperate  conduct  the 
maid-servant  had  witnessed." 

In  A[u?-rays  Poems''"'  there  is  a  poem  of 
peculiar  interest  to  those  interested  in  the  study 
of  Gypsy  life.  The  details  of  the  poem  are  such 
as  would  lead  most  Gypsiologists  to  exclaim 
"  Gypsies  !"  The  following  is  a  note  appended 
to  the  original  edition  of  tS6S,  and  ap[)arently 
the  poem  has  been  founded  largely  upon  the 
information  contained  therein  : — 

"  The  above  poem  is  founded  on  facts  still 
remembered  in  Galloway.  They  were  com- 
municated by  Mr  Joseph  Tra'n  to  S'r  Walter 
Scott,  in  view  of  a  fresh  edition  of  his  novel  of 
Redgaii?iilet.  The  narrative  of  Train  is  so  like 
an  inventory  of  facts  tiiat  it  is  difficult  to  think 
that  it  is  not  entirely  correct,  and  yet  there  may 
be  reason  to  suspect  that  it  was  coloured  and 
modified  in  his  zeal  to  find  a  prototype  of 
'  Wandering  Willie.'  At  all  events,  his  version 
of  the  story  has  not  been  adopted  by  the  author 
of  '  Helen.'  According  tcj  the  testimony  of 
parties  still  living  in  Galloway,  it  was  the 
husband  and  not  the  wife  who  was  blind,  and 


"  JJ'a ndering  Willie. "  219 

her  skilful  performance  on  the  IvM-p  is  still 
remembered.  This  statement  is  largely  con- 
firmed by  the  Dumfries  aftd  Gaiioivay  Courier 
of  the  day,  in  whose  columns  the  calamity  i& 
recorded,  and  where  it  is  distinctly  mentioned 
that  the  hapless  family  did  not  frequent  the 
South  of  Scotland,  as  indicated  by  Train,  but 
were  on  their  way  home  from  Ireland  to  AVales. 
Hugh  Pritchard  was  a  farmer's  son  of  Carnar- 
von, and  his  w-ife,  Helen  Hughes,  was  a  curate's 
daughter. 

"  Dumfries  and  Gadozvay  Courier^  April  23,. 
1816. — 'On  the  evening  of  Saturday  a  poor 
man  with  his  wife  and  five  children,  who  were 
travelling  through  the  country  with  a  small  cart 
drawn  by  an  ass,  being  unable  to  find  lodging, 
took  refuge  in  a  sandhole,  at  the  side  of  the 
public  road,  near  Twynholm  Kirk.  In  the 
course  of  the  night  a  mass  of  earth,  which  haci 
been  undermined  in  taking  out  the  sand,  unfor- 
tunately gave  way  and  buried  them  all  under  it. 
Their  bodies  were  dug  out  on  the  Sunday  morn- 
ing, and  carried  into  the  church.' 

'■^  Duiifries  and  Galloway  Courier^  April  30, 
1816. — 'Our  correspondent  at  Kirkcudbright 
writes  us  that  the  people  mentioned  in  our  pub- 
lication of  last  week  to  have  been  smothered  in 
a  sandhole  near  Twynholm  Kirk,  in  conse- 
quence of  part  of   the    earth    falling    on    then) 


2  20  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

while  asleep,  were  travelling  from  Ireland  through 
Scotland,  on  their  way  home  to  Wales,  and 
being  naturally  anxious  for  accommodation  till 
the  Monday  following,  they  earnestly  solicited 
quarters  at  several  places  in  that  neighbourhood, 
offering  to  pay  for  it  thankfully,  but  were 
uniformly  refused  ;  and  from  this  inhospitable 
treatment  were  under  the  necessity  of  taking  up 
their  quarters  in  the  sandhole  where  they  all 
met  their  melancholy  fate.  The  unfortunate 
accident  is  the  more  to  be  lamented,  as  the  un- 
happy sufferers  were  not  travelling  the  country 
as  vagrants,  but  on  their  way  home.  The  man 
was  a  discharged  soldier,  and  his  wife  played  on 
a  harp,  by  which  they  principally  supported 
themselves  on  their  journey.' 

"  It  may  here  be  added  that  on  the  person  of 
the  soldier  were  found  a  discharge,  a  letter 
from  a  boy  at  sea,  some  little  money  and  papers 
connected  with  a  small  property  in  Wales,  to 
which  the  wanderers  were  looking  forward. 
The  hapless  family  were  placed  in  four  coffin^, 
and  interred  to  the  right  of  Twjnholm  Church, 
close  to  the  churchyard  wall.  No  memorial 
•Stone  marks  the  spot  where  they  were  buried. 
The  ass  became  the  properi\-  of  Tibbie  Mitchell, 
the  Borgue  carrier,  as  did  also  the  wicker-cart 
of  which  the  wheels  were  of  solid  wood,  like 
that   of  a   peat-bairow.      The  har[)  full   into  the 


Photo  by  TiUsB  Jess;e  A.  S.  Armstrong. 

The  Welsh  Harpers  Tombstone. 


222  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

hands  of  Mr  Joseph  Train,  and  remained  with 
him  till  the  7th  December,  1852,  when  that 
zealous  antiquary,  the  friend  of  Scott,  and 
author  of  Tin  BiiJianites,  breathed  his  last. 
A  year  or  so  after  that  event,  when  his  curiosi- 
ties were  sold  and  dispersed,  it  was  allowed, 
being  old  and  worm-eaten,  to  go  to  decay,  so 
that  now  only  two  fragments  remain  of  the  old 
harp  of  Wales,  which  was  so  intimately  connected 
with  Helen's  early  and  chequered  history,  which 
had  cheered  the  wanderers  in  exile  and  poverty, 
and  was  treasured  to  the  last  as  a  tuneful  and 
loved  companion  of  the  long  and  homeward 
march." 

To  complete  the  picture  of  "  Wandering 
Willie,"  we  shall  record  Train's  description  of 
his  meeting  with  that  worthy'^* : — 

"  1  was  returning  to  Newton-Stewart  when 
the  blind  minstrel  approached,  with  a  large 
harp  over  his  shoulder,  led  by  a  wcMiian  who,  I 
afterwards  learned,  was  his  wife,  and  followed 
by  some  children  walking,  and  others  in  a  small 
wicker-cart  of  singular  construction,  drawn  by  a 
little  cuddie  of  the  old  Gypsy  kind.  As  I  drew 
near  to  them,  the  female  caused  him  to  raise 
his  harp  and  he  began  to  play  the  well-known 
air,  '  Kenmure's  on  an'  awa',  \Villie.'  It  was  a 
calm  evening  in  the  month  of  April,  and  the 
melodious  sound  of  the  harp  soon    brought    a 


"  IVande/'i/ig  Willie^  223 

•crowd  of  peasants  from  the  neighbouring  hamlet 
of  Machermore,  and  the  fields  of  Kirroughtree, 
which,  with  a  fiddle  played  by  one  of  the 
younger  branches  ot  the  minstrel's  family,  formed 
a  band  that  called  into  action  the  dancing 
powers  not  only  of  the  other  children,  but  like- 
wise of  several  of  the  spectators.  The  appear- 
ance of  the  minstrel  was  somewhat  singular  ;  he 
was  seemingly  upwards  of  fifty  years  of  age,  of 
very  diminutive  stature,  the  small  part  of  his 
countenance  that  appeared  above  his  bushy 
beard  was  of  a  sallow  complexion,  very  much 
pitted  by  the  smallpox,  and  nowise  improved  by 
his  large  sightless  eyeballs,  which  seemed  to  roll 
instinctively  as  he  moved  his  hand  across  the 
strings  of  the  harp.  His  habiliments  seemed 
to  be  just  whatever  chance  had  thrown  in  his 
way.  On  his  legs  he  wore  a  pair  of  blue  rigg- 
an'-fur  stockings,  partly  drawn  over  the  knees  of 
his  small  clothes,  the  original  part  of  which  had 
been  evidently  worn  by  a  person  of  more 
spacious  dimensions  ;  his  vest  of  red  plush 
cloth,  with  deep  pockets  hanging  over  the 
thighs,  was  in  every  way  similar  to  that  kept  in 
the  wardrobe  of  Eglinton  Castle,  stained  with 
the  blood  of  the  unfortunate  Earl,  who  was  shot 
by  Campbell,  the  exciseman.  The  outside 
colour  of  his  coat  was  brown,  the  inside  yellow  ; 
it  was  the  only  part  of  his  dress  which  bore  any 


2  2}.  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

proportion  at  all  to  his  person.  On  his  head 
he  wore  a  cap  in  old  times  called  a  megiskie, 
with  a  large  Roman  letter  in  front,  such  as  was 
usually  worn  by  Chattering  Charlie,  the  last 
professional  jester  of  the  House  of  Cassilis." 

From  the  mass  of  conjectural  and  apparently 
disputed  information  several  agreed  upon  facts 
may  be  gleaned  :  one  of  the  company  was  a 
Welsh  harper  : — 

"  When  Helen  touched  her  harp,  and  sani^ 
Lays  of  the  mountain  land, 
There  was  a  spell  in  Helen's  voice, 
And  power  in  Helen's  hand. 


"  In  hamlet,  town,  or  lonely  cot. 
The  harp  was  still  their  stay  ; 
It  was  a  friend  and  gained  them  friends. 
And  cheered  the  dreary  way." 

The  husband  was  a  soldier  pensioner,  and  their 
mode  of  life  was  characteristic  of  Gypsies  : — 

"  There  long  they  lived.      If  poor  their  lot, 
They  had  a  thrifty  hand  ; 
Neat  hose  they  sold,  and  baskets  tiiui, 
Made  of  the  willow  wand. 

"  In  wicker-cart  a  patient  ass 

Dragged  on  their  humble  store  ; 
It  bore  the  harp  that  Helen  loved, 
And  played  in  days  of  yore." 

The  Gypsies  of  Wales  are  famous  harpists — as 
any  one  who  has  read  Borrow's,  Groome's,  or 
Watts-Dunton's    Gypsy   works   will    remember.. 


"  Wandering  JVil/ie."  225 

The  presence  of  the  donkey  is  a  further  Gypsy 
indication.  The  Gypsies  of  that  period  were 
"pressed"  into  the  service,  and  many  of  them 
still  take  to  soldiering.  Even  granting  that  the 
allegation  about  Helen  being  a  curate's  daugh- 
ter had  been  obtained  direct  from  her  own  lips, 
it  would  neither  prove  its  truth  nor  even  estab- 
lish that  she  had  not  Gypsy  blood  in  her  veins, 
as  it  is  a  well-known  trait  for  Gypsies  to  claim, 
at  times  rightly,  at  times  wrongly,  that  they  are 
related  by  blood  to  families  of  high  descent. 
Mr  Murray's  poem  is  thus  prefaced  :  — 

"  '  He's  nae  gentleman,  nor  drap's  bluid  o' 
gentleman,  wad  grudge  twa  gangrel  puir  bodies 
the  shelter  o'  a  waste  house,  and  the  thristles  by 
the  road-side  for  a  bit  cuddie,'  Sir  Walter 
Scott,"  and  concludes  its  pathetic  tale  with  this 
scathing  application  of  Sir  Walter's  lash  : — 

"  Their  living  tomb  may  still  be  seen 
By  TarfFs  wild-wooded  vale  ; 
The  house  still  stands  where  hearts  of  stone 
Heard  Helen's  dying  wail." 

Mr  Murray  suspects  Train  of  colouring  his 
narrative  of  the  tragedy,  ai:id  claims  that  it  was 
Helen  and  not  "  Wandering  Willie  "  who  was 
blind.  It  is,  however,  enough  for  our  purpose 
that  it  is^admitted  that  one  or  the  other  was  a 
blind  harper.  In  Notes  and  Queiies,  p.  180, 
vol.  I,  of  The  Gypsy  Lore  Journal,  there  is  an 

15 


2  26  The  Tinkkt-Gypsies. 

interesting  account  of  Gypsy  musicians  in  Wales 
which  may  be  regarded  as  throwing  a  sidelight 
upon  the  question  under  consideration.  The 
writer  thereof,  "J.  Ceiriog  Hughes,"  explains 
that  he  obtained  the  information  from  "  a  vener- 
able minstrel,  one  of  a  tawny  tribe,  who  had 
twelve  sons  and  a  daughter  who  daily  played 
the  triple-stringed  instrument."  He  also  in- 
forms us,  "  ^Ir  John  Parry,  of  Ruabon  (a  blind 
man),  harper  to  Sir  AA'atkin  \\'.  Wynn,  Bart., 
taught  ^^'illiam  Williams  of  Penmorfa  (a  blind 
man),  who  became  afterwards  Welsh  harper  to 
the  ancient  family  of  the  Hugheses  of  Tregib, 
near  Llandilo,  Carmarthenshire.  William 
Williams  taught  the  celebrated  Richard  Roberts 
of  Carnarvon  (also  a  blind  man),  who  had  the 
honour  of  performing  upon  different  occasions 
before  the  Royal  Family." 

Mr  Hughes  gives  a  list  of  Mr  Roberts's  pupils 
who  all  "gained  silver  harps"  for  the  excellence 
of  their  playing,  and  concludes  with  a  descrip- 
tion "  of  the  Egyptians  who  first  came  from 
Wales  and  continue  to  the  present  day " : 
"About  200  years  ago  came  an  old  man,  of  the 
name  of  Abraham  Woods,  his  wife,  three  sons, 
and  a  daughter.  He  brought  with  him  a  violin, 
and  he  is  supi)osed  to  be  the  first  one  that  ever 
played  upon  one  in  Wales.  Then  followed  a 
list  of  descendants  who  were  either  violinists  or 


"  lVa/ideri;ig  IViL'ie."  227 

harpists,  and  very  often  both.  '  All  these 
harpers  (says  the  venerable  minstrel)  were  after 
'  Parry  of  Ruabon.'  "  The  same  venerable 
minstrel  says  at  p.  124  of  vol.  iii.  of  The 
Gypsy  Lore  Journal : — "The  Ingrams  lived  near 
Llanidloes,  and  the  Woods  near  Llanbrynmair. 
They  were  supposed  to  be  in  possession  of 
abundance  of  gold  when  taking  these  places  ; 
they  were  thought  gentle  folks  of  in  those  days." 
Mr  Leland  tells  us  that  there  is  a  Gypsy  tribe  of 
Hugheses  who  chiefly  frequent  \\'iltshire,  and 
are  "  short,  stubby,  and  dark."  May  not,  then, 
this  Gypsy-like  family  who  were  entombed 
in  the  sandpit,  and  one  of  whom  was  said 
to  be  named  Helen  Hughes,  have  been 
related  either  to  the  Gypsy  Hugheses  or  to 
the  ancient  family  of  the  Hugheses  of  Tregib  ? 

In  claiming  the  honour  of  being  the  proto- 
type of  "  Wandering  Willie "  for  a  Gypsy 
harpist,  we  do  not  consider  that  we  are  putting 
any  undue  strain  upon  the  details  supplied  by 
the  various  narratives. 

Galloway  has  within  the  memory  of  living 
man  been  frequently  visited  by  large  bands  of 
Gypsies.  About  30  years  ago  a  large  band  of 
English  Gypsies  visited  Galloway.  Horse- deal- 
ing was  the  occupation  of  the  men,  and  the 
women  told  fortunes.     There  was  a  large  com- 


Strange  Gypsy   Gangs.  229 

pany  on  that  occasion,  and  they  encamped  for 
several  weeks  in  a  field— which  they  had  rented 
— near  Newton-Stewart.  Crowds  of  people 
flocked  to  visit  their  encampment,  and  people 
still  speak  of  some  of  that  company  as  being 
the  handsomest  men  and  women  they  have 
ever  seen.  A  Gypsy,  who  was  one  of  that  com- 
pany on  the  occasion  referred  to,  says  that  at 
the  larger  centres  where  they  camped  they  gave 
balls  which  the  public  were  entitled  to  attend 
upon  paying  a  subscription. 

About  ten  years  ago  a  band  of  strange-look- 
ing Gypsies  passed  through  Galloway.  Mr 
Groome,  in  his  introduction  to  his  Gypsy  Folk 
Tales,  describes  that  company  as  follows''' : — - 

" '  Two  years  ago,'  writes  Mr  Robert  Burns, 
the  Edinburgh  artist,  to  Mr  Groome  in  1895, 
*  while  walking  with  my  wife  near  Kirkcudbright, 
I  met  a  large  troupe  of  Gypsies,  of  a  type  quite 
different  from  any  I  had  formerly  seen.  The 
first  to  appear  round  a  corner  was  a  tall,  swarthy 
man  leading  a  brown  bear.  My  dog,  a  big, 
powerful  beast,  immediately  made  a  rush  for 
the  bear,  but  I  managed  to  catch  him  in  time. 
On  seeing  me  holding  the  dog,  the  man  came 
up  and,  in  very  broken  English,  said  the  bear 
would  not  hurt  the  dog.  I  explained  that  my 
fears  were  not  for  the  dog  but  for  the  bear,  an 
under-sized,    emaciated     beast,    and     strongly 


2-?0 


The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 


muzzled.  By  this  time  we  were  surromided  by 
the  whole  troupe,  numbering,  I  should  think, 
sixteen  or  seventeen,  all  begging  from  the 
'pretty  lady'  and  'kind  gentleman,'  which 
•seemed  to  be  about  all  the  English  they  knew. 
A  good-looking  young  woman,  with  a  baby  on 
her  back,  asked  me  in  French  if  I  understood 
that  language.  I  said  I  did,  and  asked  her 
where  they  came  from.  '  From  Spain.'  Then 
she  spoke  Spanish  also  ?  '  Oh,  yes,  and  Ger- 
man and  other  languages  as  well.'  I  tried  her 
with  a  few  sentences  in  German  and  Spanish, 
and  found  she  spoke  both  languages  fluently, 
although  with  an  accent  which  made  it  difficult 
to  understand  her.  While  we  were  talking,  the 
men,  not  having  stopped,  were  a  considerable 
distance  off.  So  I  gave  the  woman  some  silver, 
while  my  wife  distributed  pennies  among  the 
children,  and  with  many  smiles  and  thanks  they 
started  off  to  join  the  others.  They  were  very 
dark  in  colour,  like  Hindoos  ;  the  men  and  the 
older  women  were  aquiline  in  features  ;  some  of 
the  younger  girls  really  beautiful,  with  lithe, 
graceful  figures  ;  and  all  without  exception  had 
splendid  teeth.  Their  dresses,  though  ragged 
and  dirty,  suggested  Eastern  Europe  rather 
than  Spain  ;  some  cheap  brass  and  silver  orna- 
ments seemed  to  point  in  the  same  direction. 
They    had    tsvo    ponies    with    panniers,   full    of 


The    '  U/Siui"  (or  Bear-wards).     231 

babies  and  cabbages,  empty  strawberry  biskets, 
and  other  odds  and  ends  ;  one  of  the  ponies 
had  a  headstall  of  plaited  cord  similar  to  those 
used  in  Hungary.  I  saw  them  several  times 
about  Kirkcudbright  and  Gatehouse-on-Fleet ; 
and  from  mental  studies  painted  the  head  exhi- 
bited in  the  R.S.A.  Exhibition  in  1896.' 

"  These  must  have  been  Ursari,  or  bear- 
wards,  and  recent  arrivals  in  Britain  ;  but  what 
were  they  doing  in  that  remote  corner  of  Gallo- 
way, in  Billy  Marshall's  old  kingdom  ?  Framp- 
ton  Boswell,  an  English  Gypsy  of  my  acquaint- 
ance, met  the  very  same  band,  I  fancy,  near 
Glasgow  in  1896,  and  they  were  perhaps  the 
foreign  Gypsies  encamped  at  Dunfermline  in  the 
autumn  of  1897.  I  was  lying  ill  at  the  time  in 
Edinburgh.  Almost  certainly  they  were  identical 
with  'a  little  band  of  Roumanian  Ursari '  whom 
Mr  Sampson  met  in  Lancashire  in  the  latter  half 
of  1897,  and  who  were  'travelling  in  English 
Gypsy  vans  which  they  had  bought  in  this 
country.  They  stopped  for  a  month  or  more 
at  Wavertree,  quite  close  to  us,  and  I  sa^v  a  good 
deal  of  them.  The  first  time,  crossing  a  field 
by  night,  and  expecting  to  meet  some  of  the 
English  breed,  I  stumbled  among  the  six  un- 
muzzled bears,  chained  to  the  wheels  of  the 
vans,  and  took  them  for  large  dogs  till  their 
grunts  undeceived  me  ;  fortunately  I  got  off  with 


232  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

whole  legs.  They  spoke  a  jumble  of  tongues — 
some  Slavonic  dialect  (^^/-^/-brother),  bad  French, 
Italian,  no  German,  and  little  English  ;  but 
with  the  help  of  Romani  and  scraps  of  other 
tongues  we  held  some  instructive  conversations. 
The  younger  girls  were  beautiful,  half  clad, 
savage,  but  the  older  women  ugly  as  sin.  When 
I  first  spoke  to  them,  they  replied  to  a  question 
in  Romani  with  an  Italian  denial  :  '  We  are  not 
Gypsies,  we  are  Christianos.'  " 

Another  gentleman  who  met  this  band  adds 
the  following  peculiarities  about  their  appur- 
tenances :  "  Some  of  the  women  folks  carried 
poles — apparently  either  tent  poles  or  kettle 
props,  and  others  carried  a  mat — slung  from  the 
shoulders — behind  them.  Their  babies  were 
either  carried  in  shawls  or  in  laced  straw  cases 
■swung  over  their  backs." 

Single  families  of  real  English  Gypsies 
occasionally  visit  Galloway.  Chumoinistos  and 
Petule/igros,  as  Borrow  names  them  in  Romanes, 
generally  pass  once  or  twice  every  year.  Gypsy 
Greys  also  visit  the  district.  Let  us  record — 
again  in  the  first  person  for  the  sake  of  direct- 
ness—  a  few  interviews  with  some  of  these 
Gypsy  families  : 

On  entering  Mrs  C 's  dukkeriii  tan  (for- 
tune-telling tent)  I  informed  her  that  I  did  not 
want  to  have  mv  hand  read. 


Fortune-tellins.  233 

"Then,"  she  smilingly  enquired,  "  why  have 
you  come  in  ?  " 

"  Oh  ! "  I  repHed,  "  I  want  to  make  your 
Will." 

"Yes,"  she  retorted,  "I  can  see  you  are  a 
lawyer  ;  but  we  read  the  hand  of  all — good,  bad, 
and  indififerent — and  besides  I  have  nothing 
10  will  !  " 

A  sharp  discussion  followed  as  to  the  remune- 
r.itiveness  of  the  fortune-telling  business,  in 
which  her  glibness  of  tongue  completely  over- 
matched the  halting  arguments  of  the  village 
lawyer.  My  views  about  palmistry  had  been 
t()o  orthodox  for  her,  and  she  at  once  took  me 
seriously  to  task — •"  There  are  palmists,"  she 
said,  "  whose  race  have  inherited  a  knowledge 
of  the  art,  and  there  are  7vafedi  gorgios  (wicked 
house-dwellers)  who  pretend  to  tell  fortunes. 
A  young  gent  volunteered  to  tell  me  my 
fortune  the  other  day.  He  told  me  a  number 
of  things  that  anyone  could  tell,  and  then 
he  said  : 

'  You'ie  fond  of  dress  ! ' 

'No,  sir.' 

'  But  you  are.' 

'  It's  untrue,  sir,  unless  for  business  pur- 
poses.' 

'  I  know  better.' 

'  You  can  read  no  such  thing  there.' 


Foi-tinie-telling.  231; 

'  But  I  know  better ;  you  are  desperately 
fond ' 

'  'Tis  false,  sir.' 

'  I  never  saw  it  more  clearly.' 

'  Where  do  you  find  that  ? ' 

Pointing  to  a  line  running  from  the  wrist  to 
the  tip  of  the  middle  finger,  he  said — 

'  Do  you  see  that  long  line  ? ' 

'  Yes.' 

'  Well,  that's  the  clothes  line  ! ' 

That  is  the  class  of  palmists  you  have  been 
mixing  amongst,  sir." 

Much  has  recently  been  written  condemning 
— and  deservedly  so — the  host  of  sham  fortune- 
tellers, who  deceive  the  simple.  But  is  there 
no  good  in  fortune-telling?  Do  not  professional 
men  use  the  past  as  a  guide  to  the  future  ? 
Is  not  the  prototype  of  "  Sherlock  Hohnes  " 
famous  for  his  cleverness  in  diagnosing  a 
man's  calling,  ailment,  and  character  from  his 
general  appearance  ?  The  Prime  Minister,  in 
choosing  his  Cabinet,  also  predicts  the  future 
of  these  men.  The  Gypsies  have  a  won- 
derfully keen  perception  of  character,  and  it 
is  that  supersensitivene's  of  perception  that 
enables  such  men  as  Gypsy  .Smith  to  sway 
by  his  oratory  large  audiences.  Mr  Leland, 
in  his  Gypsies,  points  out  that,  "  It  is  this 
ready    intuition    of   feeling    which,    when    it    is 


236  The  Tinkler-Gvpsies. 

raised  from  an  instinct  to  an  art  by  practice, 
enables  shrewd  old  women  to  tell  fortunes  with 
so  much  skill."  From  a  skilful  reading  of  the 
lines  of  the  hand,  but  more  especially  from  a 
keen  perception  of  the  past  through  a  rapid 
survey  of  the  face,  such  Gypsies  can  frequently 
give  useful  hints  for  the  future  ordering  of  our 
lives.  But  apart  from  the  genius  at  times 
displayed  by  clever,  far-seeing  Gypsies,  the 
wonder  to  me  is  that  people  don't  flock  in 
hundreds  and  pay  their  shilling  purely  for  the 
pleasure  afforded  by  meeting  and  chatting  with 
these  most  interesting  people. 

Being  interested  in  the  Gypsy  race  and  its 
traditions,    I    naturally  enquired    whether    Mrs 

C spoke  the   Romani   language.      "  Yes," 

was  the  prompt  reply,  "  I  know  it,  and  my 
children  know  it  too  ;  but  my  husband,  who  is 
a  bit  older  than  myself,  kncnvs  it  best  of  any 
of  us." 

"  Amongst  yourselves  do  you  speak  it 
often  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Well,  we  have  been  living  away  from  the 
rest  of  our  lot  for  a  long  time,  and  it  is  only 
occasionally  we  speak  Romanes,  but  when  we 
are  amongst  our  own  lot  we  speak  Romanes 
frequently." 

"  But,"  I  entjuired,   "is  it  really  a  language?" 

"  Oh,    yes.       It    is    not    a    jargon    like    what 


Romanes.  237 

tinklers,  potters,  and  showmen  speak.  We 
have  names  for  almost  everything,  but  we  don't 
like  outsiders  to  get  to  know  our  language. 
For  instance,  we  avoid  using  Romanes  except 
amongst  ourselves,  lest  others  hearing  it  might 
pick  it  up  and  make  capital  out  of  it  by  posing, 
as  real  Gypsies." 

The  Chumomistos  speak  with  a  nice  English 
accent.  Their  accent,  coupled  with  a  melodious 
rounding  of  the  vowels  in  such  words  as  Borrow^ 
Tiiorro  (bread),  lollo  (red),  makes  their  speech 
very  pleasant  to  listen  to.  That  musical  quality^ 
of  Gypsy  words  has  been  admirably  represented 
by  Mr  Watts-Dunton  in  "The  Coming  of  Love," 
in  such  verses  as  where  he  makes  Rhona,  a 
kinswoman  of  these  very  Gypsies,  say''": 

"  All  night  I  heerd  them  bees  and  grasshoppers  ; 

All  night  I  smelt  the  breath  o'  grass  and  may. 
Mixed  sweet  wi'  smells  o'  honey  and  the  furze, 

Like  on  that  morning  when  you  went  away  ; 
All  night  I  heerd  in  dreams  my  daddy  sal,"^ 

Sayin',  De  blessed  chi'-  ud  give  de  chollo"' 
O  Bozzles  breed — tans,^  vai'dey,^  greis,'^  and  all 
To  see  dat  tamo  rye"  o'  \\&xxi  palall^ 

Wots  left  her  till  the  coming  o'  the  swallow." 

I  assured  Mrs  C that  I  was  acting  from 

purely  disinterested  motives,  and  that  I  had  a 
friend  outside  who   was   thoroughly  versed   in. 

'Laugh,  -girl,  'whole_  ■'tents,  ■'■waafgon,  "horses, 
'young  gentleman,  "lack. 


238  Tlie  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Hindustani,  and  wished  to  compare  that  lan- 
guage with  Romanes. 

"  Well,"  she  agreed,  "  under  these  circum- 
stances, I  don't  mind  telling  you,"  and  then 
proceeded  to  name  a  lot  of  familiar  objects. 
Amongst  others,  pointing  to  a  lighted  lamp 
she  said,  that  is  dood  in  our  language  ;  a  chair, 
she  said,  was  stavimen  (as  I  caught  it). 

I    then    thanked    Mrs    C for    the    very 

interesting  interview,  and  left,  so  that  my 
Hindustani-speaking  friend  might  talk  with 
her.  As  I  passed  out  I  observed,  standing  at 
the  entrance,  a  Gypsy  girl  (a  young  lady — I  beg 

her  pardon  !)  G C ,  and  it  occurred  to 

me  that  I  might  put  her  mother's  statements 
to  a  stricter  test  : 

"What  is  the  Romanes  for  a  lamp,  please?' 
I  enquired. 

Her  mouth  opened,  revealing  a  perfect  set  of 
white  ivories — ^and  I  felt  as  if  she  had  smiled 
— but  the  smile  was  suspended  !  "  Well,  what 
is  it  yourself?"  she  warily  asked. 

"  Dood,"  I  at  once  answered. 

"  No,  you  are  wrong.  Dood  means  a  light," 
and  I  perceived  the  mistake  I  had  made  in 
thinking  that  the  mother  had  pointed  to  the 
/amp,  when  it  was  really  the  li^i^ht  she  had 
indicated.      I  next  more  cauti(jusly  asked — 


Romanes.  239 

"Well,  what  is  the  Romanes  for  a  chair  or  a 
seat  ?  " 

"Well,  what  is  it  yourself?"  she  again 
enquired. 

"  Stammen"  I  replied. 

"You  are  wrong  again,"  she  laughingly 
twitted  me. 

"  What  is  it,  then  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Skamnien,'''  she  answered,  and  I  remem- 
bered that  I  had  difficulty  in  making  out  the 
word,  as  pronounced  by  Mrs  C — ■ — -,  but 
observed  the  similarity  of  that  given  by  her 
daughter. 

My  friend  emerged  from  the  tent  and  pro- 
ceeded to  give  me  a  number  of  words  which  he 
said  undoubtedly  bore  a  similarity  to  Hindu- 
stani— 


Romanes. 

Hindustani. 

English, 

grye. 

gorah. 

a  horse. 

pani. 

paunie. 

water. 

riea. 

rajah. 

a  king. 

Ijoro. 

burrah. 

great. 

churi. 

choree. 

a  knife. 

Moreover,  he  said,  apart  from  similarity  of 
languages,  he  agreed — (with  Leland,  Borrow, 
Groome,  Watts-Dunton,  and  others) — in  tracing 
the  Romani  race  back  to  Hindustan,  because,  he 
said,  there  is  an  unmistakable  resemblance  be- 
tween several  of  the  Chumomisto  Gypsies  and  the 
offspring    of   Mohammedan-Christian  alliances. 


Romanies  averse  to  being  Photogt-aphed.    241 

When  we  were  standing  conversing;  at  the  tent 
door,  it  suddenly  occurred  to  my  friend  to  ask 
Mrs  C : 

"  Am  I  a  married  man  ?  "  and  she  at  once 
answered  : 

"  '^'ou  have  tied  a  knot  with  your  tongue  that 
you  dare  nut  cut  with  your  teeth."' 

She  had  spoken  truly.  Then  said  my  friend, 
pointing  to  me  : 

"Is  he  married,  then?"  but  laughingly  she 
told  him  : 

"  U'e  never  tell  tales  out  of  school  !  " 

Next  morning  I  thought  it  would  be  interest 
ing  to   contrast   the   appearance  of  Romanies 
with  those  of  Tinklers,  and  I   again — this  time 
with  camera  in  hand — visited   the  Chumoinistos' 
living-waggon. 

Raising  my  hat,   I  enquired  at    Mrs    C 

if  they  were  in  the  habit  of  distributing  photos 
of  themselves. 

"  No,  sir,"  she  replied,  "  and  we  resent  any 
attempts  to  snapshot  us  ;  and  whenever  we  see 
anyone  attempting  it  we  at  once  conceal  our 
faces.  But,  sir,  we  have  some  photos  of  our- 
selves, and  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  show  them 
to  you."  My  friend  and  I  greatly  admired  the 
photos,  and  I  laughingly  said  : 

"  Oh,  I  see  the  name  of  the  photographer, 
and  I  suppose  if  I  write  her  she  will  supply  me 
with  one  ?" 

16 


242  The  Tinkler-Gypfiies. 

"  No,  sir,  she  will  not.  I  have  taken  precious 
good  care  of  that,"  was  her  reply. 

I  then  thought  I  must  take  other  means  if  I 
wished  to  secure  a  photo,  and  it  occurred  to  me 
that  the  best  thing  I  could  do  would  be  to  tell 
her  I  wished  by  photographs,  as  illustrations, 
to  show  the  unmistakable  difference  between 
Tinklers  and  Romanies.  The  idea  was  a  happy 
one,  and  appealed  to  her 

"  There  can  be  no  doubt,"  she  said,  "  we  are 
of  a  higher  caste.  Writers  speak  of  Kings  and 
Queens  of  the  Gypsies,  but  there  are  neither 
Kings  nor  Queens,  for  the  poorest  amongst  the 
Romanies  is  regarded  as  good  as  the  richest ; 
but  of  course  we  sometimes  single  out  the  best 
looking  pair  of  Gypsies  to  appear  as  Kings  and 
Queens  at  fairs  so  as  to  draw  the  public.  When 
I  say  that  Tinklers  and  potters  are  of  a  different 
order,  I  don't  want  to  say  anything  in  disparage- 
ment of  them — they  can't  help  being  of  a 
different  order." 

I  thought,  and  think,  her  statement  fairly 
and  in  moderate  language  represents  Gypsy 
opinion  about  "  mumpers,"  as  they  sometimes 
term  Tinklers.  I  told  her  so,  and  added,  "  But 
as  with  Tinklers,  I  suppose  there  have  been  some 
very  wicked  men  who  were  Romanies  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  she  at  once  agreed,  "  and  there  are 
good  and  bad  amongst  us  still  ;  but  there  is  a 


Aversion  Overcome  and  Explained.    243 

great  deal  of  misconception  about  us.  We  are 
superstitious,  and  don't  like  our  children  to 
marry  the  Gorgios  " — that  is,  people  who  dwell 
in  houses — "  hut  we  are  even  beginning  to  regard 
that  as  foolish.  I  was  married  in  an  English 
Church,  and  my  children  never  take  a  meal 
without  asking  grace  before  and  after  it.  '  Don't 
you,  dearie  ? ' "  she  asked  of  a  sweet  little  dark- 
eyed  Gypsy  girl  who  had  been  listening  to  the 
conversation,  and  who  winsomely  smiled  her 
assent.  "  We  always  live  in  living  waggons  or 
tents,  and  in  the  winter  we  have  our  head- 
quarters at  ■,  where  we  are    well  known. 

My  children  all  attend  school  there." 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  my  object  is  to  use  photo- 
graphs to  illustrate  the  difference  between 
Romanies  and  Tinklers." 

"  Then,  if  I  must,"  she  conceded,  "  I  must 
tidy  myself  a  little,"  and  asking  to  be  excused, 
she  ran  up  the  steps  and  disappeared  into  the 
living-waggon.  As  we  awaited,  my  Hindustani- 
speaking  friend  informed  me  that  "it  is  against 
the  strict  tenets  of  the  Koran  to  have  any 
likeness  or  image  made  of  the  true  follower  of 
the  prophet.  Purity  of  race  and  aloofness 
from  people  of  other  religions  is  also  a  trait  of 
the  Mohammedans."  This,  he  said,  might  have 
something  to  do  with  their  aversion  to  being 
photographed.       His    opinion — and    I    give  it, 


€^" 

iiAte«<£ 

^_^ito 

^ 

^K'T"^ 

^^'' 

0^ 

i 

1 

y 

• 

1 

Gypsy  Children.  245 

though  it  differs  from  the  opinion  of  Leland  — 
was  that  the  Gypsies  are  more  likely  to  be 
descended  from  Hindustani-speaking  Moham- 
medans, who  are  nomadic  in  tendenc)'  and  not 
tied  down  to  any  country  by  caste  rules,  than 
from  the  Hindus,  who  are  tied  down  by  caste 
to  their  own  country. 

How  it  came  about  I  must  leave  my  readers 
to  guess,  but  the  four  Gypsy  children  were 
all  beautifully  dressed  in  their  best  Sunday-go- 
to-meeting  clothes,  and  scrupulously  clean. 
They  remained  outside,  and  I  amused  myself  by 

trying  to  get  snapshots  of  them.     Mo •,  who 

by-the-bye,  was  born  in  the  Isle  of  Man,  con- 
cealed herself  in  the  shadow  of  the  waggon,  and 
the  others  kept  turning  away  their  faces,  while 
one  of  the  little  girls  cried,  "  Mammy,  the 
ge'man  wants  to  take  us  ;  must  we  ?" 

"  \^ery  well,  my  dear,"  she  answered,  "but 
take  off  your  hats — look  out,  he  has  already 
lelled  (taken)  you,"  and  so   I    snapshotted   the 

pretty    little    Gypsy     children,     whilst     G 

retired  into  the  waggon  to  help  her  mother  to 
dress.       Presently  both  appeared,  and  as   Mrs 

C •  descended  the  steps  I  could    not    help 

exclaiming,  "  I  thought  you  said  there  is  no 
Queen  of  the  Gypsies,"  for  verily  she  looked 
a  Queen. 

"V\'ell,"    said  she,    "if   I    am    to   be  photo- 


246  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

graphed,   I    must    have    it    done    properly,   but 

G here   simply    detests   it,"    and    jokingly 

added,   "  Never  mind,  G dear,  look  your 

best,  and  some  young  Gorgio  will  perhaps  see 
your  photo  and  fall  in  love  with  y(ni  ! " 

Two  family  groups  being  taken,  triumphantly 
I  bade  adieu  to  my  friends,  and  as  I  withdrew 
I  said  to  Mrs  C : 

"  By-the-bye,  I  think  you  told  the  amateur 
fortune-teller  you  were  not  fond  of  dress,"  and 
she,  laughing  heartily,  again  retorted  : 

"Only  in  the  interests  of  my  business." 

As  we  turned  out  of  the  field  where  the 
Romanies  were  camped,  we  looked  back,  and 
seeing  Mrs  C- walking  towards  the  living- 
waggon  we  raised  our  hats.  "  Ilia  iiiciait 
regina,'^  remarked  my  friend. 

Next  time  the  Chiunomistos  came  round  I 
again  paid  them  a  visit,  but  this  time  it  was  on 
their  camping  ground  near  The  Ferry.    I  had  the 

good  fortune  to  meet  with   Mr  W C , 

Mrs  C^ 's  husband.       He  is  a  tacho  Rflmani- 

chal  (real  Gypsy),  and  a  son  of  the  famous  Syl- 
vester, who  gave  so  much  valuable  information 
to  Messrs  Smart  &  Crofton  for  their  book  on  The 
Dialect  of  the  English  Gypsies.  Fortunately,  I 
was  able  to  show  them  a  photo  of  old  Westarus 
(Sylvester),  and  I  could  not  have  done  anything 
to  please  them  more.     W — —  is,  to  all  api)ear- 


Gypsy  Children.  247 

ance,  a  very  mild,  unassuming  man.  As  I 
squatted  by  the  burn-side  the  children  gathered 
around,  and  I  rhymed  to  them  Gypsy  songs,  in 
Romanes,  which  I  had  learned  from  the  book 
published  by  Leland.     Their  favourite  was : 

"  Yeck  bittD  Rom'ni  chal  churyin  ap  a  rukk, 
Chury'd  ap  t'  truppo  an'  beshed  apr6  a  shock." 
{"  One  little  Gypsy  climbed  a  tree,  and  how  ? 

He  climbed  up  the  branches  and  sat  upon  a  bough.") 

But  what  took  their  fancy  most  was  the  story  of 
"  Happy  Bozzle,"  as  told  by  Mr  Grooaie  in  his 
In  Gypsy  Tents.  It  was  persoiral  to  them,  and 
seemed  to  revive  old  memories.  Somehow 
they  thought  they  had  heard  it  before,  and  little 

L laughed — at    the     Baron     Munchausen- 

like  feats  performed  by  "  Happy  Bozzle  " — till 
his  little  beady  black  eyes,  in  the  shape  of  two 
dark    drops    of   water,  looked    like   rolling  out 

of  their  sockets.       On  Mrs  C 's  invitation, 

I   joined   them   at   tea   in    their   ivtirdo  (van). 

L had  been  sent  an  errand  up  to  the  village, 

and  G was  deputed  to  attend  to  customers 

in  the  dun-ikin  tan  (fortune-telling  tent).    Whilst 

Mrs  C busied    herself    getting    tea   ready 

I  tried  to  make  friends  with  the  two  pretty  little 

Gypsy  girls,  Mo and  Mu .       But  they 

were  as  shy  as  wild  deer.     Mo sat  at  the  end 

of  the  van  remote  from  me,  casting  side  glances 
out    of   the    ciirners    uf  her   dark    eyes,    whilst 


A  Gypsy  Tea.  249 

Mu sat  with  her  back  to  me,  and  do  as  I 

would  I  could  not  get  them  to  speak  except 
in  monosyllabic  answers  to  questions  about 
Romanes.  The  mother  had  been  outside  the 
van  for  water  for  the  tea,  and  on  re-entering 
she  said  : 

"  Why,    Mu ,    what    has    the    Rye   been 

doing?     Has  he  been  kissing  you?" 

"No  such  luck,"'  I  replied;  but  turning  to 
Mu ,  I  said  : 

"  Muk  mande  del  tuiti  a  chooma  ?"  (Let  me 
give  you  a  kiss  ?) 

This  set  both  the  little  git  Is  a-giggling,  and 
the  ice  was  broken.  Later  on  one  of  them  did 
come  and  sit  on  my  knee,  much  as  a  little  Scotch 
girl  would  have  done — with  far  less  persuasion. 

I  had  occasion  to  rise  to  let  Mrs  C get  at 

her  best  silver,  when  I  observed  through  the 
window    which    looked    into   the    djirrtki/i    fan 

that  G had  been  joined  by  Mo ,  nnd 

that  they  were  engaged  in  dancing  a  most 
graceful  dance.  The  mother  laughed  aloud, 
and  they  hearing  her,  looked  up  at  the  window, 
and  espying  me  at  once  stopped  dancing,  but 
do  as  I  would  I  could  not  persuade  them  to 

continue  the  dance.       I  advised  Mrs  C to 

give  them  every  opportunity  for  excelling  in 
singing,  dancing,  and  playing  the  violin  and 
harp,     the    chief  accomplishments  of    Gypsies 


250  TJie  Tiiikler-Gyl'sies. 

throughout  the  world,  so  that  they  might  go 
through  the  country  giving  Gypsy  concerts.  She 
seemed  to  be  quite  taken  on  with  the  notion, 
and  I  do  hope,  in  the  interest,  at  all  events, 
of  all  Romaui  Ryes  (gentlemen  interested  in 
Gypsies),  that  something  may  come  out  of  my 
advice,  and  that  sooner  or  later  we  may  have 
public  taste  educated  to  see  some  of  the  good 
qualities  of  these  children  of  nature. 

The  tea  table  was  tastefully  arranged.  The 
table  in  the  house  of  any  Gorgio  could  not 
have  been  nicer.  The  tablecloth  was  beauti- 
fully white — bleached  upon  the  green — and  the 
silver,  placed  upon  the  table  out  of  compliment 
to  me — would  have  been  a  credit  to  any  table. 
The  Gypsies  take  a  s[)ecial  i)ride  in  having  good 
silver.  There  were  scones,  tea  cakes,  biscuits, 
and  jams — all  very  much  as  the  Gorgios  have  it ; 
everything  neat  and  clean,  though  plain — just 
such  a  tea  as  a  clean  feeder    can  relish  ;    but 

there  was  just  one  thing  Licking  :     Mrs  C 

had    said,    "  Mo ,    dear,   will    you    ask  the 

grace  ?  "  and  she  had  responded,  when  I  asked  : 

"  But  is  the  riukein'  chci  (])retty  gypsy  girl) 
not  t(j  join  us  ?  " 

Mrs    C laughed,  got    up,  and    shouted 

out  at  the  door  :  "  G ,  the  Rye  wants  to  know 

if  the  rinkeni  chei  is  not  coming  in  for  tea  ?  " 

Quick  as  lightning  came  the  retort  :   "  Kci  see 


A  Gypsy  Tea.  251 

yoi  V  (where  is  she?)  But  though  I  saw  her 
not,  I  knew  that  the  smile  was  no  longer  sus- 
pended I 

Ere  long,  however,  she   joined    us,  and    we 

had  a  very  happy  tea  parly.       Mo was  too 

bashful  to  ask  for  anything,  but  when  she  had 
finished  with  a  biscuit  her  heels  commenced  to 
knock  against  the  boarding.  When  I  learned 
her  signal  I  kept  plying  her  with  biscuits  to  the 

amusement  of  all.     Mu ,  when  eating,  kept 

her  back  turned  towards  me,  but  her  mother 
explained  her  attitude  : 

"  Look  at  Mu 's  mouth.  Rye.    She  nibbles 

biscuits  just  like  a  rabbit,"  and  all  of  us   roared 

with  laughter,   in  which   Mu had   to   join. 

After  tea  I  spied  little  L returning  from  his 

errand.  He  was  running  towards  the  van.  I 
stood  up  in  a  corner — where  there  was  barely 

room  to  conceal  me — in  order  to  give  L a 

surprise  when  he  came  up  the  steps,  but  the 
little  Gypsy  girls  laughed  so  much  that  I  had  to 

unbend,  and  the  joke  was  out  long  before  L 

reached  the  van  I 

"  Oh,"  said  the  droll  Mu ,  pointing  to  her 

waist,  "  Mammy,  dear,  I'm  sore  all  round  here 
laughing  at  the  Rye.'' 

"  Now,  L ,"  said  Mrs  C ,  as  he  was 

about  to  fall  to,  and  L — — ,  before  beginning, 
asked  grace  aloud.      On  leaving  the  van   I   saw 


252  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

W C ,    with    shirt    sleeves   rolled  up, 

proceeding  to  enjoy  an  evening  wash.  His 
appearance  recalled  Ryley  Bosvil's  address  to 
Yocky  Shuri "'  :  — 

"  Tuley  the  Can  I  kokkeney  cam, 
Like  my  rinkeny  Vocky  Shuri  ; 
0()rey  the  chongor  in  ratti  I'd  cour, 
For  my  rinkeny  Yocky  Shuri  !" 

("  Beneath  the  biight  sun  there  is  none,  there  is  none, 
I  love  like  my  Vocky  Shuri  ; 

With  the  greatest  delight,  in  blood  I  would  fight 
To  the  knees  for  my  \'ocky  Shuri  1"") 

I  jumped  back  from  him  and  said,  "Are  you  a 
kooriii  Roniiiichal  ( fighting  Gypsy)  ?"  He  squared 
up  in  professional  style,  and  I  could  see  from 
the  knit  muscles  of  his  neck  and  chest  and  the 
fire  in  his  eye  that  he  had  not  always  been  so 
mild  as  he  looked.  His  passes  were  those  of 
the  born  fighter. 

"  Ah,  yes"  he  replied,   "  me  and  my  brother 

A r,  that's  him  as  you  may  see  in  the  ward» 

(van),  travelled  the  country  with  Jim  Mace 
giving  sparring  exhibitions.  These  were  the 
dear  old  times,  Rye,  but  the  best  man  I  ever 
stripped  my  jacket    to  was  a  sweep.     He  was 

standing   by   poolc   bridge,   and  he'd   been 

doing  a  little  business,  Rve,  in  the  way  of 
brushing  boots.     Says  he — ■ 

"  '  Can  I  brush  your  boots,  brotlur  T  alluding 
to  my  tawny  skin. 


A  Koorin  Rom  ni  Chal. 


'■^^6 


"  '  No,  you  shan't  sir.'     Then  says  he  : 

"  '  I'll  blacken  your  face  for  you,'  and  he 
just  played  lick  that  way  and  this  way  cross  both 
sides  o'  my  face.  I  picked  up  his  bits  o' 
brushes  and  stand  and  pitched  them  over  the 
bridge.     Says  I — 

"  '  Now,  you  go  and  fetch  them.' 

"  '  No,'  says  he,  '  I've  blackened  your  face, 
and  now  I'm  going  to  blacken  your  eyes.' 

"  '  Well,'  says  I,  '  you  take  off  your  coat  and 
everything  else,  for  you'll  have  to  have  a  good 
try  at  that  first.' 

"  He  was  the  biggest  bully  in  all  poole, 

and  a  terror  to  the  whole  place.  Well,  we  ats 
it,  and  a  big  crowd  gathered  round,  and  proud 
they  was  to  see  me  putting  up  such  a  tidy  fight." 

'*  Where  were  the  police  all  the  time  ?''  I 
enquired. 

"Oh,"  said  he,  "they  were  down  at  the 
pleasure  grounds.  Rye,  where  the  sports  were 
being  held." 

"Well,  how  did  it  finish  ?"  I  had  interjected 
again  in  ^V 's  long  description  of  the  fight. 

"  Don't  you  hear  what  the  gentleman  is  asking 

you  ?"   said    Mrs    C ,    backing    me   up,    as 

W rattled  on. 

"Well,  it  ended  this  way,  Rye.  I  feigned  to 
hit  him  with  the  left,  and  I  hit  him  with  the 
right  on  the  left  jaw,  and  sent  it  right  through 


254  '^^^^  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

his  other  jaw.  That's  the  bit  to  hit  him  if  you 
want  to  hear  his  jaw  go  crack  hke  that  (as  he 
snapped  his  fingers  by  way  of  illustration).  Oh, 
I  could  both    '■  del  and  /c7 '    (give  and  take)  a 

bit  could  I.       The  folks  of poole  were  so 

pleased  that  they  would  have  given  me  a  hat 
full  of  gold  if  I  had  cared  to  go  round  for  it.'" 

Mrs  C then  related  some  blood-curdling 

stories    of    W 's    pugilistic    capacity,    and 

pointed  me  out  some  of  his  scars.  A  quiet- 
looking,  douce  man,  but  when  I  got  close  up  to 
him  and  saw  his  movements  and  the  look  in  his 
eyes  as  he  waxed  reminiscent  of  his  fighting 
days,  I  saw  there  was  still  some  of  the  fire  of 
the  old  kooromengro  (pugilist)  in  him. 

We  had  a  chat  about  the  affairs  of  Egypt, 
and  particularly  about  the  language.  He  tried 
me  with  some  Romani  test  words.  Some  of 
them  I  had  heard  before  : 


Saliwardo... 

...     a  bridle 

Weriglo     . . . 

...     a  watch  chain 

Bauseri     . . . 

...     a  waistcoat 

But  there  was  one  word  upon  which  he  laid 
special  stress  as  being  one  of  the  real  old 
"deepo  diredest"  words,  which  I  had  not  come 
across  in  any  list — 

Kltiihtii    ...  ...     a  he<l,c;e  slake 

In  turn  I  sought  to  trap  him  with  a  modern 
word.     The    word   "  waxcloth "    served    as   my 


Roinani  Simplicity  and  Frankness.     255 

bait,  but  the  Gypsies  have  a  way  of  overcoming 

such  difficulties,  and  W ■  neatly  escaped  it 

by  translating  the  word  thus :  Dovva  (that), 
kovva  (thing),   tooti  (you),  perrov    (walk),  opre 

(upon).     I  observed  that  the  C s  prefer  to 

use  w  in  place  of  z',  using  iiKirdo  and  wafedi 
instead  of  vardo  and  vafedi. 

These  Gypsies  are  —  notwithstanding  the 
reputation  of  the  race  for  craftiness — very  sim[)le 
and  childlike  in  many  ways.    Had  I  approached 

W by  offering  him  money  to  induce  him  to 

allow  me  to  take  his  photograph,  the  chances 
are  he  would  have  indignantly  refused.  No, 
it  was  the  simple,  childlike  side  of  his  nature 
that  stood  me  in  good  stead,     I  had  read  over 

to  VV some  of  old  Sylvester's  own  Romani 

compositions  from  Smart  &  Crofton's  book, 
and  when  he  saw  old  Sylvester's  (his  father's) 
photo  he  was  overjoyed.  On  reading  him 
'VVestarus's  (that  "  well-known  and  popalated  " 
Gypsy's)  certificate,  as  composed  by  himself, 
W gleefully  remarked  : 

"  That's  quite  'VVesterious,  Rye.  It's  a  right 
good  ///  (book) — that  is." 

I  then  asked  if  I  might  take  his  photo,  to 
which  request  he  at  once  agreed,  but  he  asked 
to  be  taken  in  the  real  old-fashioned  way — as 
depicted  in  one  of  the  illustrations — sitting 
with  his  legs  criss-crossed  by  the  yog  tan  (camp 
fire). 


<  fc 

I- 


Rouiaui  Chiricio  (The  Gypsy  Bird).      257 

As  I  was  about  to  go  I  observed  a  water 
wagtail  tripping  about  on  the  stones  on  the  burn 

which  flowed  past  the  camp.    I  asked  Mrs  C 

if  she  had  any  name  for  that  bird  : 

"  Oh,  yes,  Rye,  that's  the  chiricio  (Gypsy  bird), 
and  we'll  be  sure  to  see  some  of  our  people 
soon.  But  there  is  another  bird  which  we  do 
not  welcome  about  our  camps — and  as  sure  as  it 
comes  there  is  a  death.  We  call  it  the  '  death- 
hawk,'  but  I  forget  its  proper  name."  It  was  a 
strange   coincidence  that  ere  I    left  the  green 

Mrs   C •   exclaimed:    '•''  Dik  adoi !   Hokki ! 

Kon  see  yon  ?"  (Look  there  !  Behold  !  Who  are 
they?)  as  another  lot  of  Gypsies  with  horse  and 
van  turned  down  the  loaning. 

Reluctantly  I  withdrew  from  my  kind  friends. 
I   made   the   parting  as   gradual   and    easy   as 

possible   by  giving  little  L a  ride  up  the 

lane  on  my  bicycle,  and  by  making  him  promise 
to  pay  me  a  visit  on  his  next  return — a  promise 
I  am  still  hoping  he  will  fulfil. 

Whilst  walking  up  Queen  Street,  Newton- 
Stewart,  one  evening  I  met  a  girl.  She  was  fair 
and  rather  pretty,  but  had  a  slight  defect  in  one 
eye.  I  thought  I  spotted  a  Gypsy,  and  at  once 
said,  "  Do  you  know  what  a  rinkeni  chei  (pretty 
Gypsy  girl)  means?"  The  girl  blushed  for  answer 
and    passed   on  :    and  I  knew  I  had  surmised 

17 


258  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

correctly.  Further  along,  and  just  outside  the 
town,  I  met  two  little  children,  and  this  time 
they  were  unmistakably  Tinklers'  bairns.  "  Deek 
at  the  cleechy  ower  the  chaef''  (Look  at  the 
policeman  behind  the  dyke),  I  said.  One  of 
the  children  immediately  clambered  up  the 
dyke.  I  asked  them  a  few  questions,  and  as 
I  moved  on  I  heard  the  smaller  of  the  two 
crying:  '■'■Deek  (look)  at  the  curdee  (id)  the 
gadgi  (house-dweller)  gaed  me."  When  I 
reached  the  market  field  I  saw  several  vans  and 
tents.  A  stout  burly  Roni'ni  chal  (Gypsy  man) 
sat  in  the  field  with  his  back  to  the  road.  A 
koori  (pot)  hung  from  the  ' kavvi-koshts  (kettle- 
props),  and  the  Ronini  chal  was  busy  mixing  a 
bran  mash  in  the  pot. 

"  Good  evening,  sir,"  I  had  somewhat  doubt- 
ingly  hazarded,  and  the  Gypsy  had  as  formally 
replied,  when  along  came  a  Tinkler,  and  as  he 
passed  between  the  Gypsy  man  and  me  I  heard 
him  saying  : 

"  Do  you  Jail  that  gadgi  wants  to  mang  to 
ye?"  (Do  you  know  that  house-dweller  wants  to 
speak  to  you  ?).     I  promptly  remarked  : 

"  Oh,  yes,  the  gadgi  ja?is  what  you  are 
mangaii  (saying),"  whereupon  the  Roni}ii  chal, 
perceiving  that  I  was  conversant  with  the 
Tinklers'  cant,  wheeled  round  on  the  stool  upon 
which  he  was  seated  and  said  : 


A  Gypsy  Passport.  259 

"  ril  bet  you  five  pounds  you  don't  know  a 
dozen  words  of  real  Romanes  I "  I  had  a  few 
Gypsy  words  at  my  disposal,  but  I  did  not  think 
it  would  be  wise  to  air  my  knowledge  straight 
away.  We  talked  for  some  time,  and  fortunately 
I  was  able  to  hum  over  to  him  one  or  two 
•verses  :''^ 

' '  Can  you  rokker  Romany  ? 
Can  you  kel  the  bosh  ? 
Can  yoMjal  adrd  the  slaripen  ? 
Can  you  chin  the  kosht  ?'''' 

("  Can  you  speak  Romany  tongue  ? 
Can  you  play  the  fiddle  ? 
Can  you  go  into  prison  ? 
Can  you  cut  and  whittle  ?") 

This  convinced  him  he  had  been  somewhat 
rash,  but  the  little  episode  led  up  to  a  most 
useful  lesson  in  Gypsy.     He  said  : 

"  If  you  want  to  make  friends  with  us 
Romanies  always  give  it  us  back  in  our  own 
language." 

Later  on  in  the  evening  I  visited  the  same 
Gypsies.  The  father  and  mother  talked  of 
Romanes  with  me,  and  the  little  Gypsy  and 
Tinkler  children,  peeping  out  from  under  the 
wardo  (van),  plied  me  with  Gypsy  and  cant 
words.  Occasionally,  one  would  run  away  to 
another  van  and  bring  me  back  a  puzzler  ;  all 
of  which  pleased  me  mightily,  as  it  told  me 
1  had  made  friends.  In  the  midst  of  a  discus- 
sion with  my  Gypsy  friends  as  to  the  decadence 


2  6o  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

of  the  Civpsy  race,  an  old  man  came  to  the  door 
of  an  adjoining  van  and  shouted  out  in  the 
midnight  air  (for  I  had  dallied  long)  : 

"  I  know  what  the  young  gent  is  deluding 
(alluding)  to,  but  believe  me  if  I  opperehend 
(apprehend)  aright  there  isn't  one  drop  of  real 
Romani  blood  in  the  whole  of  Engaland." 

I  had  made  an  egregious  blunder  by  omit- 
ting to  make  friends  with  the  old  man  of  the 
company,  and  I  had  to  pay  the  penalty  for  this 
blunder  of  the  novice.  I  had  never  spoken  to 
the  old  gentleman,  and  apparently  my  visit  was 
not  altogether  to  his  liking.  I  arranged  to  take 
photos  of  my  Gypsy  friends  early  next  morning, 
but,  alas  !  when  I  put  in  an  appearance  at  the 
appointed  hour  they  had  flown.  The  old  gentle- 
man's voice  had  been  a  power  in  the  camp  ! 

A  few  weeks  afterwards  I  met  the  same  lot — 
the  old  gentleman,  being,  however,  not  one  of 
the  company  this  time — and  they  apologised  ; 
explained  that  they  had  acted  m  the  interests  of 
peace,  and  invited  me  to  visit  their  camp,  which 
I  did,  and  some  of  the  photos  taken  then  serve 
as  illustrations  for  this  work.  There  were  two 
lots  of  Petulengros,  camped  on  the  green  at  The 
Ferry  on  that  occasion.  One  lot  I  had  never 
spoken  to  before,  and  the  other  lot — my  friends 
— were  absent  attending  to  their  daily  avocations 
when  I  appeared  at  the  camp. 


A  Right  and  a  Mixed  Ditkkerin.      :  6 1 

"Is   Mr  P about?''  I  asked   of  a  dark 

complexioned  woman  who  was  sitting  cooking 
an  evening  meal.  I  had  heard  of  that  same 
woman  making,  when  on  her  basket  and  lace 
selling  round,  a  wonderful  prediction  which 
had  been  strikingly  confirmed  the  same  day. 
She  had  been  much  more  fortunate  than  the 
Gypsy  who  had  got  private  advice  in  advance 
about  two  of  her  lady  patrons.  Somehow  that 
Gypsy  had  mistaken  the  one  for  the  other,  and 
the  fortunes  got  mixed  I  When  Leland  chaffed 
her  about  it  she  said  :  "  '  Rye  ' — with  a  droll 
smile  and  a  shrug — '  I  think  I  see  it  now.  The 
dukkerin  (prediction)  was  all  right,  but  I  put  the 
right  dukkerin  on  the  wrong  lady.' '"' 

To  my  enquiry  she  stiffly  replied  :  "  No,  sir, 
he  isn't." 

Apparently  my  company  was  not  desirable 
at  this  particular  time,  for — how  she  managed 
it  I  can't  say — the  Gypsy  children  never  drew 
near  me. 

"  Will  he  return  soan  ?  "  I  next  asked. 

"You  can  get  him  over  yonder  "—pointing 
to  a  stable  at  the  other  side  of  the  conimon — 
*'  if  you  must  see  him,"'  was  her  answer. 

"  May  I  sit  down  ?  "  I  enquired,  after  assuring 
her  I  was  in  no  hurry. 

"  You're  as  welcome  here  as  we  are,"  was  her 
doubtful  assent. 


262  The  Tinkler  Gypsies. 

I  wondered  how  I  could  break  this  chilling 
reception,  but  the  savoury  smell  from  the 
frying-pan  quickened  my  dull  wits. 

"  If  that  were  hotchi-wikhi  (hedge-hog),"  I 
said,  "  I  should  like  to  have  some,''  were  the 
simple  words  which  it  occurred  to  me  to  use. 
That  simple  Romani  word  acted  as  magic.  She 
smiled  for  the  first  time. 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  "  what  wouldn't  I  give  if 
that  were  the  hind  leg  of  a  hedge-hog  ?  I'm 
sorry.  Rye.,  we  haven't  anything  half  so  nice  to 
offer  you,  but  you're  welcome  to  what  we  have 
got  so  long  as  it  lasts.  Won't  you  have  a  cup 
of  tea,  sir  ?  "  I  could  not  refuse  such  an  invita- 
tion, and  so  I  said  : 

"  I  shall  be  delighted  to  join  you."  She 
wanted  to  go  for  a  cup,  but  I  insisted  on  having 
the  tea  in  a  basin  like  the  others,  and  she  had 
just  handed  me  a  bowl  of  tea  and  a  plate 
hanging  over  with  liver,  bacon,  sausages,  and 
steak  when  the  other  Gypsies  arrived. 

They  seemed    surprised  to  see    me  feeding, 

but  I  told  Mr  P that  it  was  "all  along  of 

him,"  as  he  had  told  me  to  give  it  them  back  in 
their  own  language,  and  I  had  discovered  that 
the  use  of  the  word  "  hotchi-^vitchi"  had  quite 
unlocked  the  Gyps)-  dye's  (mother's)  heart  to 
me.  Gypsies,  as  a  rule,  do  not  take  dinner  in 
the  middle  of  the  da)-.     They  are  too  busy  at 


High  Tea  with  Gypsy  Frie/ids.        263 

work  during  the  day,  and  so  have  a  high  tea 
such  as  that  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  partake 
of.  Open  -  mouthedly  the  mumply  Gorgios 
(house-dwellers)  as  they  passed  by  stared  at  me 
as  some  abandoned  soul  taken  to  hobnobbing 
with  Gypsies  !  I  had  just  had  a  long  run  on 
my  bicycle,  and  despite  the  rude  gaze  of  the 
passers-by  never  did  I  pai  take  of  a  repast  with 
greater  relish.  A  happy  group  we  were.  My 
friends  the  Petiilengros  looked  extra  dusky  as 
they  squatted  round  the  snow-white  table  cover, 
and  one  and  all  of  us  did  ample  justice  to  the 
homely  but  sumptuous  meal  scattered  promiscu- 
ously on  the  cloth  spread  out  upon  nature's 
table — green  grassy  mother  earth.  Their  appear- 
ance there  did  not  belie  their  palmistry  placard 
which  was  headed,  "  Real  Indian  Gypsies." 
But  appearances  must  not  always  be  trusted,  for 
some  of  these  Petulengros  and  Chumomistos 
(or  Boshatiiks^  as  old  Westarus  named  them) 
are  merely  didakeis  (half-breed  Gypsies),  and 
one  or  two  of  them — their  swarthiness  or  tawni- 
ness  and  even  their  knowledge  of  Romanes 
notwithstanding — have  not  a  single  drop  of 
Gypsy  blood  in  their  veins.  The  smoke  of  the 
camp  fire  curled  up,  partially  veiling  the  rugged 
form  of  Cairnsmore.  With  the  song  of  birds 
singing  gaily  in  the  woods,  the  call  of  sea-birds, 
the  rippling  laughter  of  the  brook  hard  by,  and 


264  T/ie  Tinkler-Gypsies 

the  more  distant  sough  of  the  sea,  a  spell  of 
deep  happiness  wove  itself  round  my  heart. 
Pictures  are  at  best  but  lifeless  things  ;  but  the 
recollection  of  such  a  pleasant  evening  spent 
■■.vith  these  children  of  nature — in  their  proper 
haunts,  in  the  green  fields  by  stream  and  wood, 
where  they  are  regaled  by  nature's  many  voices, 
is  a  living  picture  which  memory  must  often 
recall.  It  is  by  keeping  as  close  to  nature  as 
they  can  that  Gypsies  retain  their  love  for  the 
open  air  and  the  open  road.  But,  alas  !  for 
Gypsies,  they  are  endowed  with  an  instinct — ■ 
praiseworthy  in  landlords,  but  unpardonable  in 
poor  Gypsies — for  game,  similar  to  that  possessed 
by  landlords  themselves,  and  the  laws  have 
been  framed  to  stamp  out  Gypsies  and  to  kill 
such  poaching  upon  landlords'  special  preserves. 
Rhona  Boswell,  in  Mr  Watts-Dunton's  charming 
Gypsy  Heather,  says  : 

"  Things  o'  fur  an'  fin  an'  feather, 
Like  coneys,  pheasants,  perch,  an'  loach, 
An'  even  the  famous  '  Rington  roach,' 
Wur  born  for  Romani  chies  to  poach, 
Gypsy  Heather." 

I  had  a  very  interesting  lesson  in  Romanes,  but 
unfortunately  was  not  able  to  remember  so 
much  of  it  as  I  could  have  wished.  Further 
meetings  with  other  Gypsies,  however,  recalled 
many  words  then  heard  for  the  first  time. 


Good-iiii^ht  and  Good  Luck. 


265 


One  little  Gypsy  boy,  "  'Lijah,"  whose  face 
beamed  with  happiness,  was  just  the  living  pic- 
ture of  his  father,  and  little  "  Patience,"  with 
fair  ringlets  clustering  round  her  rosy,  smiling 
cheeks,  might  have  passed  anywhere  —  her 
Romani  extraction  notwithstanding  —  for  a 
bonnie  wee  Scotch  lassie. 

Mr  P suddenly  arose,  having  remem- 
bered that  he  had  a  deal  to  conclude  at  the 
Head  Inn,  and  I  opined  that  it  would  be  judi- 
cious to  follow  his  example  !  Thanking  my  kind 
friends,  I  wished  them  good-night,  and  they  ex- 
pressed the  wish  that  I  would  visit  them  next 
time  they  came  round.  As  I  walked  briskly 
over  the  common,  my  ears  were  greeted  with 
Kushto  ratli,  Rye  (Good-night,  sir),  and  Kushto 
hokt  {Good  luck),  and  looking  back  I  saw  the 
Gypsy  children — with  faces  agleam  with  happi- 
ness^waving  their  hands,  and  mingling  their 
adieus  with  those  of  the  Gypsy  women. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


"  Few  things  more  sweetly  vary  civil  life 
Than  a  barbarian,  savage,  Tinkler  tale." 

—  Christopher  North. 


■J  EEDS  of  kindness,  it  is  said,  are 
written  in  water  ;  and  yet,  there  is 
scarcely  a  farm-house  in  Galloway 
where,  after  the  lapse  of  113  years 
since  Billy  Marshall's  death,  stories 
of  his  kindness  are  not  still  related. 
These  might  be  recorded  by  the  hundred. 
From  such  we  get  an  insight  into  the  nature  of 
this  notorious  character  who  still  bulks  so  largely 
in  the  memory  of  those  amongst  whom  he 
wandered.  A  King  he  was  amongst  his  own 
people — and  by  the  laws  of  Little  Egypt  he  had 
the  power  to  correct  the  members  of  his  tribe 
— and  none  but  a  strong,  resolute,  capable  mail 
could  ever  have  held  so  well  in  check,  as  Billy 
did,  such  a  gang  of  desperadoes.  His  race 
detested,  and  he  himself  said  to  have  been  an 
outlaw,  in  order  to  maintain  his  gang  and  him- 
self he  had  to  have  recourse  to  desperate 
measures,  in  which   the  poor  Gypsies  had  daily 


Tinkler  Tales.  267 

to  take  their  lives  in  their  hands.  Starvation^ 
the  gallows,  or  banishment  were  the  only  other 
courses  open  to  them.  And,  be  it  noted,  that 
the  Criminal  Law  Reports  have  not  so  far 
revealed  that  Billy  ever  was  either  indicted  for 
murder  or  outlawed,  and  so,  as  in  the  eye  of 
the  law  a  man  is  not  held  guilty  of  a  crime 
until  it  has  been  proven  against  him,  let  us  bear 
in  mind  that  the  graver  crimes  laid  to  Billy's 
charge  have,  like  the  many  stories  of  his  kindly 
acts,  been  merely  handed  down  by  tradition. 
Nevertheless,  in  these  traditions  —  a  strange 
blend  of  brutality  and  kindness — we  find  what 
one  would  just  expect  from  a  chief  at  once 
powerful,  masterly,  and  having  an  eye  jealous  to 
the  rights  and  ever  ready  to  redress  the  wrongs 
of  the  wild  and  oppressed  gang  over  which  he 
ruled.  To  confirm  the  acts  of  kindness  brought 
out  in  some  of  the  stories  which  follow,  many 
similar  stories  about  Billy  could  be  recorded 
did  space  permit  of  it,  but  we  content  our- 
selves by  recording  a  few  which  we  thmk  to  be 
most  characteristic  of  Billy  and  his  gang  : 

Billy  Befriends  a  Tramp  and  Chastises  Two 
Cowards.— OwQ  day  Billy  was  walking  leisurely 
along  the  road,  when  he  met  a  poor  tramp  crying 
most  piteously.  He  stopped  him  and  inquired 
what  was  the  cause  of  his  distress.  The  tramp 
replied  that  two  of  the  Border  Gypsies  or  Tinklers 


2  68  The  Tinkltr-Gypsics. 

had  beaten  him.  Billy  made  him  turn  back, 
and,  going  at  a  brisk  pace,  they  soon  overtook 
the  two  Tinklers,  whom  Billy  at  once  recognised 
as  the  only  two  cowards  in  his  gang.  After 
upbraiding  them  for  such  conduct,  he  made  the 
tramp  punish  first  one  and  then  the  other ;  then 
giving  the  tramp  some  money,  he  sent  him  on 
his  way  rejoicing,  and,  cutting  a  stout  ash  stick 
from  a  tree  close  by,  he  beat  the  two  bullies  all 
the  way  to  the  encampment,  a  distance  of 
two  miles.'' 

Clever  Ruse  by  a  Rider  Attacked  by  Billy. — 
A  farmer  named  M'Nab  had  the  satisfaction  of 
outwitting  Billy.  M'Nab  was  riding  slowly 
along  on  a  Galloway  pony,  when  Billy  suddenly 
seized  the  bridle  and  demanded  the  rider's 
money.  The  night  was  intensely  dark,  and 
though  M'Nab  could  not  see  Billy,  he  recog- 
nised his  voice,  and  knew  what  to  expect  if  the 
money,  of  which  he  had  a  considerable  sum, 
was  not  instantly  given  up.  There  being  no 
answer  to  this  demand,  it  was  repeated  a  second 
time.  A  second  time  there  was  no  answer.  A 
third  time  the  demand  was  repeated,  this  time 
with  the  addition  that  there  would  be  no  more 
words.  Neither  there  were;  M'Nal)  brought 
his  switch  down  with  full  force  on  the  pony's 
side,  and  in  another  moment  Billy  was  holding 
the    empty   bridle.     M'Nab   had    succeeded  in 


Tinkler  Tales.  269 

unbuckling  the  cheek  strap  and  in  sh'pping  the 
bridle  and  reins  over  the  horse's  head.  Billy 
could  not  have  his  revenge,  for  M'Nab  had 
never  spoken,  and  the  bridle  gave  no  clue 
to  its  owner. ^" 

Billy  and  His  Harem. — As  stated  in  a  former 
chapter,  Billy  lived  in  a  hut  on  the  Burn  of 
Palnure,  near  Bargally  ;  and  Mr  Douglas, 
farmer.  Little  Park,  on  his  way  home  one  night 
met  Billy's  wives — one  report  says  he  had  seven 
—running  as  for  their  lives.  Billy  was  in  hot 
pursuit,  brandishing  a  large  knife  ;  he  was  very 
scantily  clad — the  only  garment  he  wore  was  a 
shirt.  It  is  not  known  if  he  caught  any  of  them 
or  the  punishment  inflicted,  but  no  doubt  they 
were  made  to  suffer  in  some  way.  It  was  on 
that  occasion  that  he  is  said  to  have  remarked, 
"  I  wonder  that  they  canna  agree  ;  I'm  sure 
there's  no'  that  mony  o'  them."  Afterwards,  Mr 
Douglas  called  to  have  a  crack  with  him.  He 
found  him  in  bed,  surrounded  by  his  harem. 
While  they  were  talking,  he  observed  Billy 
getting  irritable  and  making  strange  grimaces, 
but  feared  to  make  any  enquiries  as  to  the 
cause.  Eventually  he  discovered  that  one  of  his 
wives  was  pricking  him  through  the  blankets 
with  a  pin.  INIr  Douglas  fearing  a  repetition  of 
the  former  scene  and  thinking  discretion  the 
better  part  of  valour,  took  a  hurried  leave.' 


270  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Billy  Drowm  a  Coiicubine.  — -  Billy  and  his 
gang  were  one  day  coming  from  the  Glenkens 
down  through  the  Orchar  Farm,  and  his  wives — 
there  were  three  on  this  occasion — ^were  all  fight- 
ing, and  the  favourite  one — Flora  Maxwell — was 
getting  the  worst  of  it,  whereupon  he  caught  the 
one  who  was  abusing  her  most  by  the  neck  and 
heels  and  pitched  her  into  a  deep  "wall  e'e," 
which  is  said  to  be  called  "  Marshall's  Dub  "  to 
this  day.  Some,  however,  point  out  Loch  Gower 
as  the  place  where  the  tragedy  was  enacted.  '^ 

Billys  Criterion  of  Merit.  —  Billy  said  of  his 
favourite  wife,  Flora  Maxwell  :  "  I'd  raither  hae 
yin  rake  o'  Flora  thro'  Ayr  Fair  than  o'  a'  the 
ithers  put  thegither."'' 

^  Billy  is  Confronted  by  the  Devil.  —  Billy  took 
a  sheep  whenever  he  wanted  it,  and  once,  up 
in  the  Kirkcowan  district  (Calgalleach),  he  had 
shot  one,  and  asked  one  of  his  wives  to  wash 
the  pench,  as  he  wanted  a  haggis.  When  she 
had  it  washed  clean,  she  put  it  over  her  head 
and  looked  over  the  rees  (dyke)  where  they 
had  been  camping.  He  told  my  father,  says 
our  informant,  "I  did  think  the  devil  was  come 
at  last  for  me,  but  I  took  the  whup  and  v/armed 
her  ])roperly."^ 

Billy  Shoivs  Kindness  to  a  Stornistayed  Way- 
farer.— On  one  occasion  Billy  took  pity  on  a 
woman  named  Mrs  James  M'Connell,  who  lived 


Tinkler  Tales.  271 

at  the  Ferry  Toun  o'  Cree.  \\'hen  crossing  the 
Corse  o'  Slakes  she  had  encountered  a  storm, 
and  Billy,  remembering  former  kindnesses  meted 
out  to  him,  insisted  upon  her  taking  shelter  for 
the  night  at  his  camp.  The  Tinklers  treated 
her  kindly  and  saw  her  safely  on  the  road  in 
the  morning.  In  after  years  she  used  to  speak 
very  highly  of  Billy  Marshall,  stoutly  maintaining 
to  the  end  that  he  was  far  above  the  ordinary 
Tinkler.'^ 

Billy  Bites  off  a  Thu>ni>. — -Billy  one  evening 
came  to  Craighlaw,  and  as  it  was  threatening 
snow  he  wanted  shelter  for  the  night,  and  the 
landlord  would  not  give  him  it.  Billy  threatened 
to  set  fire  to  the  house.  As  there  were  no  police 
in  the  neighbourhood,  the  laird  gathered  all  the 
leish  young  men  he  could  get  in  the  district,  and 
they  pursued  him  till  he  reached  a  loch ;  but 
Billy,  being  a  capable  swimmer,  took  to  the 
water.  One  of  the  young  men  managed  to  get 
hold  of  him  just  as  he  was  slipping  into  the 
water.  Billy  turned  round  and  bit  the  man's 
thumb  off  and  took  it  with  him,  and  so  they  did 
not  manage  to  catch  him  then,  but  it  was  said 
he  was  afterwards  banished  to  Holland  for  that 
affair.  The  man  whose  thumb  was  bitten  off 
was  a  William  Stroyan.  His  father  farmed 
Arniemore — part  of  Carseriggan — and  he  was 
an    uncle   of  the    late   Mr  Alexander  Stroyan, 


Photo  liy  J.  P.  Milnes. 


Pocket-book  stolen  by  Billys  Gang, 
but  restored  by  billy 


Tinkler  Tales.  273 

Clendrie,  by  whom  the  story  used  often  to  be 
related.  ^ 

Billy  Proves  Grateful. — Billy  often  stayed 
about  the  Dinnans,  near  Lawrieston,  when  on 
his  way  to  and  from  Keltonhill  Fair.  On  one 
occasion  the  farmer,  Affleck  by  name,  after 
returning  from  the  Fair,  missed  his  pocket-book 
and  a  lot  of  money.  Next  day  Billy  paid  him  a 
visit,  and  when  Affleck  told  him  his  misfortune, 
Billy  said  "  Jist  bide  awee,"  and  disappeared. 
He  soon  returned  with  the  pocket-book  and  the 
money  intact,  and  it  was  supposed  that  he  had 
made  one  of  his  gang  give  up  his  ill-gotten  gains 
so  that  he  might  restore  it  to  its  rightful  owner, 
who  had  so  often  befriended  Billy  and  those  of 
his  gang.* 

Billy  Shows  Bis  Metile.-^The  late  Mr  Alex- 
ander Stroyan  used  to  take  delight  in  relating 
the  following  story  :  — "  My  father  once  told  me 
a  story   about   old    Billy    having  proved  more 

than  a    match  for    the  laird  of  and  my 

father.       The  late  laird  of  's  grandfather 

was  then  farmer  in ,  and  his  wife  had  gone 

to  the  door  when  Billy  called  to  ask  for  an 
awmous.  She  refused  to  give  it.  Billy  rounded 
on  her  and  called  her  vile  names.  She  ran  to 
her  husband,  who  was  repairing  cart  spokes  in 
the  workshop,  and  told  him  what  Billy  had 
called  her.     The  husband  ran  out  in  a  passion 

18 


2  74  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

and  pinned  Billy  with  a  spoke  right  on  the  back 
of  the  head,  knocking  him  to  the  ground.  Billy 
was  soon  on  his  feet  again,  and  retaliated  with 
his  brazier's  anvil,  and  my  father,  who  was 
straightening  the  spittal  croft,  came  running  up 
with  the  straightening  pole  in  his  hand,  and  gave 
Billy  a  poke  with  it  that  knocked  him  down. 
A  terrible  struggle  amongst  the  three  of  ihem 
ensued.  I  heard  the  late  laird's  father  telling 
my  father  that  the  Tinkler  had  given  his 
father  and  mine  a  good  deal  more  than  they 
gave  Billy,  and  all  my  father  could  say  was 
*  Damn  him,  his  skin  was  that  teuch  we  couldna 
pierce't.'  "'^ 

Billy  Repays  Kindness.— '■''  On  one  occasion," 
relates  our  informant,  "  Mr  Carter,  then  farmer 
at  Greenslack,  was  crossing  the  Corse  o'  Slakes 
on  his  way  to  Creetown  to  pay  his  rent,  when 
he  was  suddenly  accosted  by  several  of  Billy's 
gang.  Resistance  was  out  of  the  question,  and 
when  one  of  them  demanded  his  pocket-book, 
he  had  to  hand  it  over :  and  lie  was  left  in  a  sore 
•dilemma  about  his  rent.  One  of  the  gang,  who 
had  disappeared  with  the  purse,  returned  and 
informed  the  others  that  '  aul'  Billy  wanted  to 
see  the  stranger.'  My  grandfather  was  taken  to 
a  lonely  dell  where  he  found  Billy  sitting  wi'  a 
gun  in  the  one  hand  and  the  pocket-book  in  the 
other.     When  he  saw  my  grandfather,  he  sud- 


Tinkler  Tales.  275 

denly  jumped  up  and  said  '  Dodsakes  !  is't  my 
guid  frien'  Greenslacks  that  I  see?'  Billy  was 
very  much  overcome,  and  at  once  handed  back 
the  pocket-book  (shown  as  an  illustration), 
remarking  as  he  did  so,  '  Mony  a  meal  o'  meat 
me  and  mine  hae  had  at  yer  expense,  and  I'm 
gled  to  save  a  frien'  frae  being  rookit.'  Billy 
escorted  him  for  a  bit,  and  then,  bidding  '  guid 
day'  to  one  another,  Billy  returned  to  his  gang, 
and  my  grandfather  proceeded  to  visit  his  land- 
lord."<» 

Billy  Acts  Diplomatically. — Two  "  footpads  " 
had  attacked  a  coach  when  passing  along  a 
lonely  road  amongst  the  mountains.  They  had 
just  succeeded  in  overpowering  the  drivers,  and 
had  made  two  ladies,  the  only  occupants  of  the 
coach,  deliver  up  everything  in  their  possession. 
At  this  juncture,  Billy  Marshall  and  two  of  his 
sons  arrived  on  the  scene  and  turned  the  tables 
against  the  "  footpads."  Billy  told  the  ladies  he 
would  see  them  safely  into  Kirkcudbright,  and 
jumping  on  to  the  "dickey"  he  accompanied 
them  as  far  as  the  outskirts  of  that  town.  When 
he  alighted,  the  ladies  were  profuse  in  their 
expressions  of  gratitude  towards  him  for  the 
timely  assistance  he  had  rendered  them.  They 
asked  if  there  was  anything  they  could  do  for 
him,  as  they  would  be  willing  to  give  whatever 
he  might  ask.       But  Billy  declined  their  kind 


Tinklef  Tales.  277 

offers.  At  last  one  of  the  ladies  said,  "  Then 
who  have  we  to  thank  for  this  timely  succour  ?  " 
but  all  Billy  replied  was,  "  It  would  be  as 
muckle  as  my  head  is  worth  gin  I  tell'd  ye." 
My  informant  told  me  that  the  ladies  were  of 
the  Selkirk  family,  and  that  it  was  through  the 
influence  of  that  house  that  Billy,  who  was  an 
outlaw,  was  not  hunted  out  of  his  fastnesses." 

Billy  Safeguards  a  Friend. — A  son  of  Mr 
M'Culloch,  of  Ardwall,  travelling  on  horseback 
by  Thornhill  to  Edinburgh,  met  Billy  on  a  very 
lonely  part  of  the  road.  Billy  had  affected  a 
stoop  for  the  occasion,  and,  looking  up  sideways 
as  the  traveller  approached,  he  enquired 
'•What's  the  time,  sir?"  But  Billy  was  non- 
plussed when  the  rider  said,  "  But  surely  you're 
my  old  friend  Billy  Marshall  ?  "  Billy  did  not 
at  first  recognise  Mr  M'Culloch,  but  on  dis- 
covering he  was  a  son  of  Mr  jVI'Culloch  of 
Ardwall,  he  drew  a  whistle  from  his  pocket  and 
blew  a  shrill  blast.  Suddenly  one  after  another 
of  Billy's  gang  popped  up  out  of  the  moor.  He 
charged  one  of  them  to  take  care  of  the  young 
gentleman  and  see  him  safely  into  the  courtyard 
of  the  inn  at  Thornhill,  which  command  was 
duly  attended  to.' 

Billy s  Hardihood. — At  Colmonell  Fair  Billy 
had  on  one  occasion  raised  a  ruction  with  some 
of  the  stalwarts  attending  the  Fair,  and  finding 


278  The  Tinkle} -Gypsies. 

he  had  too  many  enemies,  he  had  to  flee  for  his 
hfe.  He  was  hotly  pursued,  but,  hickily  for  him, 
the  Stinchar  was  in  full  flood,  and  plunging  in, 
he  swam  across  and  thereby  performed  a  feat 
his  pursuers  dared  not  emulate.  \\'hen  over, 
he  shook  his  fist  at  them  and  defied  them  to 
swim  across  ;  but,  observing  that  one  of  his  pur- 
suers had  a  gun,  he  ran  away  and  rested  not  till 
he  was  at  Glenapp,  where  he  asked  for  salt  to  rub 
his  bruises,  which  he  had  received   in  the  fight.-" 

Billy  Accepts  a  Douceur. — M'Adam,  laird  of 
Craigengillen,  when  returning  from  a  Fair,  was 
once  stopped  by  Billy.  Billy  had  demanded  his 
purse.  The  laird  said,  "  Billy,  I  am  glad  to  see 
you,"  and  wisely  handed  him  half-a-sovereign, 
and  asked  him  to  convoy  him,  which  he  did. 
Billy  said,  "  There  is  a  lot  of  our  folks  out  to- 
night, but  tell  them  gin  ye  meet  them  whnt  has 
happened,  and  they'll  no'  daur  harm  ye."^ 

Billy  Marshall  or  the  Devil — The  wre-tle 
between  the  grandfather  of  the  present  Gordons 
of  Arnsheen — probably  still  the  biggest  type  of 
men  in  the  South  country — and  Billy  Marshall 
was  caused  by  Billy's  cuddies  eating  the  corn 
from  the  kiln.  Gordon,  with  a  cow  stake  in  his 
hand,  had  followed  him  down  the  road,  and  as 
Billy  retreated,  he  said,  "  Never  did  a  single 
man  cause  me  to  retreat  in  my  life  before. 
Throw  doun   the  cow  stake  ami   I'll  wrastle  ye 


Tinkler  Tales.  279 

for  wha'a  the  best  man."  Gordon  accepted  ihe 
challenge,  and  though  of  prodigious  strength,  he 
could  not  throw  Billy  off  his  feet.  Billy  had,  as 
already  stated,  very  short  legs,  with  wide  built 
body,  as  the  Marshalls  have  to  this  day.  'Twas 
when  Arnsheen  found  himself  unable  to  throw 
Billy  that  he  exclaimed,  "  By  God,  ye  maun 
either  be  Billy  Marshall  or  the  devil.' 

Strength  of  Billy's  Adversary. — The  following 
anecdotes  about  Billy's  antagonist  in  the  great 
wrestling  match  will  convey  some  idea  of  Billy's 
strength.  Mr  Gordon,  Arnsheen,  carried  a  stone 
— said  to  be  over  half  a  ton  in  weight — on  his 
loin,  and  that  stone  may  still  be  seen  in  a  field 
near  the  Rees  of  Arnsheen.  His  daughter 
helped  to  put  the  stone  into  position  to  enable 
him  to  carry  it.-' 

Once  when  at  Ayr  buying  tar,  he  laughed  at 
the  ironmonger  when  he  was  vainly  endeavouring 
to  get  a  barrel,  weighing  three  hundredweights, 
hoisted  into  a  cart,  and  told  him  he  could  toss 
it  over  his  head.  The  ironmonger  laid  it  down, 
and  told  Arnsheen  that  he  would  not  charge 
him  for  the  price  of  it  if  he  tossed  it  over  his 
head.  Whereupon  he  picked  the  barrel  up,  and 
tossing  it  high  over  his  head,  it  fell  with  a 
smash  on  the  pavement,  to  the  great  amusement 
of  the  passers  by.^ 

On  another  occasion  he  was  at  a  funeral  at 


Kirkcowan  when  some  of  the  mourners,  who 
were  the  worse  of  drink,  fell  a-fighting,  and 
Arnsheen  put  an  end  to  the  fight  by  throwing 
several  over  the  churchyard  wall.  It  is  said 
he  fiung  them  over  two  and  three  at  a  time, 
remarking  as  he  did  so,  "  You  Kirkcowan  folks 
are  ill,  but  ye're  unco  wee  bookit."  ^ 

Black  Maltha's  Ruse. — The  house  in  Minni- 
gaff  where  Billy  lived  w-as,  as  explained  in  a 
previous  chapter,  ultimately  sold  by  Billy  and 
converted  into  a  public-house.  In  after  years 
it  was  a  great  howff  for  the  Marshall  gang  of 
Gypsies.  On  one  occasion  a  number  of  them 
were  drinking  there,  but,  according  to  their 
custom,  the  reckoning  was  never  settled  until 
they  were  ready  to  depart.  After  they  had  had 
many  rounds,  one  of  them  asked  : 

"  What  o'clock  is't  ?"  and  when  mine  host 
said  : 

"  It's  drawin'  near  to  eight," 

"  Dear  me,"  said  his  interrogator,  "  eight 
o'clock  and  ne'er  a  blow  struck  I " 

This  remark  had  scarcely  fallen  from  his  lips, 
when  two  young  Gypsies  sitting  at  a  round  table 
in  a  corner  fell  into  an  argument,  and  from 
words  it  came  to  blows.  Soon  the  house  was 
in  a  terrible  uproar.  The  two  men  tumbled  on 
the  ground,  and  several  others  joined  in  the 
fray,  and  what  with  the  terrible  struggle  upon 


282  The  Tinkler-Gxpsies. 

the  floor  and  the  shrieking  and  tearing  of 
women's  hair,  it  looked  as  if  murder  would  be 
the  result.  Eventually  one  of  the  original 
assailants  disengaged  himself  from  the  struggling, 
swearing  mass  of  humanity,  and  as  he  backed 
out  of  the  door  he  cried  : 

"Come    on    the    haill  ■  clanjamphry   o' 

ye,  an'  I'll  learn  ye  better  than  ca'  Mattha 
Marshall  a  Papish  1  " 

Out  through  the  passage  they  forced  Black 
Mattha,  and  the  fight  continued  for  a  time 
around  the  door,  and  then  right  across  to  the 
other  side  of  the  square,  where  it  flickered  out 
as  suddenly  as  it  had  originated.  It  was  only  a 
well-known  Gypsy  ruse  to  avoid  settling  the 
reckoning.^' 

Scant  Accommodation. — A  gentleman  saw  a 
little  girl  sitting  inside  half  of  a  sugar  barrel  as 
it  lay  on  its  side  on  the  ground,  and  he  asked 
the  child,  "  Do  you  really  find  room  to  sleep  in 
that  barrel  ?" 

"  Oh  ay,"  came  the  ready  reply,  "  and  my 
mither  and  faither  an'  aul'  grannie  forbye."  " 

Divorce  Ceremony. — As  a  rule,  Tinklers  like  to 
have  their  children  baptised,  but  they  often 
dispense  with  a  religious  ctremony  when  enter- 
ing into  the  bonds  of  connubial  bliss,  and  we 
fear  that  they  too  frequently  part  company 
without     ever     undergr)ing     the     form     which. 


Tinkle}-  Tales.  283 

according  to  Simson,  they  used  to  have  recourse 
to  in  the  case  of  divorce  : 

"  I  have  been  informed  of  an  instance  of  a 
Gypsy  falling  out  with  his  wife,  and,  in  the  heat 
of  his  passion,  shooting  his  own  horse  dead  on 
the  spot  with  his  pistol,  and  forthwith  performing 
the  ceremony  of  divorce  over  the  animal,  without 
allowing  himself  a  moment's  time  for  reflection 
on  the  subject.  Some  of  the  country  people 
observed  the  transaction,  and  were  horrified  at 
so  extraordinary  a  proceeding.  It  was  con- 
sidered by  them  as  merely  the  mad  frolic  of  an 
enraged  Tinkler.  It  took  place  many  years  ago 
in  a  wild  and  sequestered  spot  between  Galloway 
and  Ayrshire." '^^ 

A  gentleman  avers  that  he  remembers  one  of 
the  Kennedies  parting  company  with  his  wife  in 
a  similar  way. 

That  ceremony,  however,  is  not  confined  to 
Tinklers,  for  an  eccentric  being  known  as  "  The 
Laird  of  Trelorg,"  who  used  to  wander  about 
Galloway,  sleeping  out,  or  in  farm  steadings 
when  he  could  manage  it,  once  divorced  his  wife 
by  a  similar  process.  They  had  been  sleeping 
together  on  a  moor.  The  "  Laird  "  killed  a 
sheep,  and  dragged  it  between  them,  awakened 
his  wife,  and  pointing  to  the  dead  sheep, 
rema'ked  "Till  death  does  us  part,"  and  there- 
upon deserted  her  for  ever  ! 


284  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

In  Gypsies,  Leland  records  a  story,  upholding 
the  Gypsies  for  honesty,  told  to  him  by  Thomas 
Carlyle.  As  Thomas  Carlyle  was  brought  up 
in  Dumfriesshire,  the  story  is  likely  to  refer 
either  to  the  Baillies,  to  whom  Carlyle's  wife  was 
related,  or  to  the  Kennedies,  or  to  some  of  the 
other  Galloway  Tinklers  who  occasionally  visited 
Dumfriesshire,  and  even  Northumberland  and 
Cumberland  ;  and  it  may,  therefore,  be  appro- 
priately recorded  here  : 

"You  have  paid  some  attention  to  Gypsies," 
said  Mr  Carlyle.  "  They're  not  altogether  so 
bad  as  people  think.  In  Scotland,  we  used  to 
see  many  of  them.  I'll  not  say  that  they  were 
not  rovers  and  reivers,  but  they  could  be  honest 
at  times.  The  country  folks  feared  them,  but 
those  who  made  friends  wi'  them  had  no  cause 
to  complain  of  their  conduct.  Once  there  was 
a  man  who  was  persuaded  to  lend  a  Gypsy  a 
large  sum  of  money.  My  father  knew  the  man. 
It  was  to  be  repaid  at  a  certain  time.  The  day 
came  ;  the  Gypsy  did  not.  And  months  passed, 
and  still  the  creditor  had  nothing  of  the  money 
but  the  memory  of  it  ;  and  ye  remember 
'■  Nessuin  iiiagi^ior  do/ore '  —  that  there's  no 
greater  grief  than  to  remember  the  siller  you 
once  had.  Weel,  one  day  the  man  was  surprised 
to  hear  that  his  frien'  the  Gypsy  wanted  to  see 
him —interview,  ye  call  it  in  America.      And  the 


Tinkler  Tales.  285 

Gypsy  explained  that  having  been  arrested,  and 
unfortunately  detained,  by  some  little  accident, 
in  preeson,  he  hadna  been  able  to  keep  his 
engagement.  '  If  ye'U  just  gang  wi'  me,'  said 
the  Gypsy,  'aw'll  male'  it  all  right.'  '  Mon,  aw 
wuU,'  said  the  creditor — they  were  Scotch,  ye 
know,  and  spoke  deealect.  So  the  Gypsy  led 
the  way  to  the  house  which  he  had  inhabited,  a 
cottage  which  belonged  to  the  man  himself  to 
whom  he  owed  the  money.  And  there  he  lifted 
up  the  hearthstone — the  hard  stane  they  call  it 
in  Scotland ;  it  is  called  so  in  the  prophecy  of 
Thomas  of  Ercildowne.  And  under  the  hard 
stane  there  was  an  iron  pot.  It  was  full  of  gold, 
and  out  of  that  gold  the  Gypsy  carle  paid  his 
creditor.  Ye  wonder  how't  was  come  by  ? 
Well,  ye'U  have  heard  it's  best  to  let  sleeping 
dogs  lie.  Yes.  And  what  was  said  of  the  Poles 
who  had,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  a  reputation 
almost  as  good  as  that  of  Gypsies  ?  ''Ad  sea-eias 
Foli\  curas  extendere  noW  (Never  concern  your 
soul  as  to  the  secrets  of  a  Pole)."'" 

In  order  to  conceal  their  depredations,  Gypsy 
gangs  had  often  to  desert  for  a  time  the  district 
frequented  by  them,  and  the  following  story 
shows  that  both  Gypsy  and  Scot  alike  were  pre- 
pared to  make  considerable  sacrifices  to  retain 
or  obtain  possession  of  a  horse  : "' 

In  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  the 


2  86  The  Tinkler- Gypsies. 

farm  of  Knockburnie  was  tenanted  by  Mr  John 
Kerr,  the  grand-uncle  of  the  (then)  present  tenant 
•of  MarshaUmark.  He  was  a  man  of  generous 
nature,  and  his  house  was  ever  open  to  rich  and 
poor  :  and  because  of  the  kindness  they  received, 
■"  gangrel  bodies "  made  it  a  place  of  very 
frequent  resort.  On  at  least  one  occasion  the 
farmer's  open-hearted  hospitality  was  no  protec- 
tion against  the  thieving  propensities  of  his 
guests.  It  came  about  in  this  wise :  One 
summer  evening  a  small  band  of  Highland 
Tinklers  arrived  at  the  steading,  and,  as  usual, 
received  nothing  but  kindness  at  the  hands  of 
the  master.  After  supper,  in  which  the  strangers 
joined,  every  one  retired  to  rest.  Next  morning 
on  going  to  the  stable,  Knockburnie  was  amazed 
to  discover  that  the  stall  was  empty  which  should 
have  been  occupied  by  his  good  grey  mare.  A 
further  look  round  disclosed  the  fact  that  the 
Tinklers  had  disappeared.  In  the  style  of  their 
nomadic  brethren  of  the  East,  they  "had  silently 
stolen  away,'"  but  they  had  stolen  away  the 
farmer's  pony  also.  Without  any  loss  of  time, 
Knockburnie  set  out  for  the  neighbouring  farm 
of  MarshaUmark,  and  there  he  told  the  story  of 
his  loss.  The  two  farmers,  who  were  also 
brothers,  found  that  each  of  them  had  lost  a 
pony,  and  after  talking  the  matter  over,  resolved 
to  follow  the  thieves.     One  of  the  [)onies  had 


Tinkler  Tales.  287 

cast  the  half  of  a  shoe  a  few  days  before,  and 
with  that  as  a  guide  they  soon  found  the  track. 
There  could  be  no  mistake  about  the  first  direc- 
tion in  which  the  thieves  had  gone,  and  following 
the  track  they  reached  Old  Cumnock.  There 
they  learned  that  the  party  had  rattled  through 
the  town  during  the  night.  On  went  Knock- 
burnie  and  Marshallmark.  Inquiry  by  the  way 
assured  them  that  the  grey  mare  was  still  in 
front.  At  last  Kilmarnock  was  reached,  and 
there  they  learned  that  the  Tinklers  had  gone  in 
the  direction  of  Fenwick.  Marshallmark  went 
no  further,  and  turned  himself  homeward  ;  but 
Knockburnie  set  out  undaunted  to  follow  the 
robbers  throughout  the  Mearns.  Knockburnie 
was  not  only  upheld  by  righteous  indignation, 
but  the  "  dourness  "  which  every  Scottish  man 
or  woman  has  inborn  in  him  or  her  would  not 
permit  him  to  give  up  the  pursuit.  He  had 
come  away  unprovided  with  money,  but  the 
country  folks  were  nothing  loth  to  supply  him 
with  food  as  he  paused  at  their  doors  and  told 
his  tale.  He  traced  the  runaways  right  through 
Glasgow,  and  having  a  hazy  notion  as  to  where 
they  had  their  stopping-place,  he  followed  them 
right  into  the  Highlands,  to  the  vicinity  of 
Glencoe.  Before  approaching  the  place,  he 
enlisted  the  services  of  a  number  of  county 
constables.     The  home  of  the  Tinklers  was  in  a 


288  The  Tnikle?--Gypsies. 

secluded  glen,  and  the  policemen  hid  themselves 
while  Knockburnie  went  forward  nlone.  He 
saw  his  grey  mare,  woefully  jaded  and  tired,  and 
when  he  called  her  by  her  pet  name,  the  pony 
raised  her  head,  neighed  gladly,  and  came 
limping  towards  him.  While  Knockburnie  was 
stroking  her  and  speaking  gently  to  his  "wee 
bit  powney,"  an  old  crone  came  forward  and 
said  :  "  Ye're  faur  afiel'  this  morning,  guidman." 
"  Atweel  that  ;  I'm  faur  afiel',"  replied  Knock- 
burnie. "An'  what  may  ye  be  wantin'  this 
mornin',  guidman  ?  "  she  asked.  "  Oh,  naething 
ava,"  was  the  reply,  "  except  my  powney."  Just 
at  that  moment  a  man,  the  head  of  the  gang, 
appeared  on  the  scene.  He  was  struck  dumb 
with  amazement,  but  at  length  he  ejaculated 
with  a  round  oath,  "  I  didna  expeck  to  see  you^ 
Knockburnie  !  "  "  An'  I,"  said  Knockburnie, 
"  didna  expeck  ye  wad  hae  stown  my  grey 
mare."  The  Tinkler  was  about  to  lay  violent 
hands  upon  his  unwelcome  visitor,  when  the 
policemen  rushed  upon  the  scene  and  secured 
their  man.  He  was  taken  to  Edinburgh,  tried, 
and  died  upon  the  scaffold,  according  to  the 
law  of  the  times,  for  the  crime  of  horse-stealing, 
aggravated  in  this  case  by  the  baseness  of 
robbing  a  man  whose  hospitality  he  had  just 
enjoyed.  The  other  pony,  that  belonging  to 
Marshallmark,    had    been    "  swapped,"    but    it 


Tinkler  Tales.  289 

also  was  recovered  with  considerable  difficulty. 
Both  horses  were  brought  home,  and  one  of 
them,  which  lived  to  a  great  age,  was  ever 
after  known  as  the  "  Tinkler." 

Years  afterivards  a  band  of  Tinklers  were  en- 
camped on  a  little  green,  situated  in  front  of  the 
smithy,  in  what  is  now  known  as  New  Bridge 
Street,  Cumnock.  Several  of  them  were  half- 
intoxicated  and  began  to  quarrel.  The  women 
of  the  company  joined  in  and  added  to  the 
rowdyism  of  their  proceedings  with  their  shnll 
voices  and  bitter  tongues.  At  length  one  said 
to  another  tauntmgly,  "  Your  father  took  awa' 
a  helter  frae  Knockburnie."  "Ay,"  chimed  in 
another,  "  an'  wi'  a  bit  beastie  at  the  en'  o't." 
Evidently  the  memory  of  such  a  black  day  in 
their  annals  was  held  as  a  deep  di-=;grace  by 
these  nomads,  who  have  their  code  of  honour 
like  every  other  society.  The  conversation  was 
overheard  and  related  by  a  gentleman  still 
(then)  living  in  Cumnock. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  story  appears  to  be 
erroneous  in  a  few  of  its  details.  The  trial  took 
place  at  Ayr,  not  Edinburgh,  and  the  accused, 
who  was  condemned  to  death  and  executed, 
was  a  Watson  ;  and  it  is  more  than  likely  that 
they  merely  withdrew  to  the  Highlands  to  evade 
capture. 

The   story   as  to  the  Gypsy   spacing   Burns's 

ly 


290  The  Titikler-Gyf'sies. 

fortune  at  his  birth  is  told  in  Mr  Dougall's 
The  Burns  Country,  and  nia)  be  appropriately 
quoted  here  :  — '- 

"The  story  goes,  th:it  on  a  certain  25th  of 
January,  William  Burnes  rode  from  Alloway  to 
Ayr  for  assistance  to  bring  a  child  into  the 
world.  At  the  ford  across  the  Curtecan  he  found 
an  old  woman  afraid  to  cross.  With  something 
of  the  courte-)'  which  his  son  inherited,  he  turned 
back  to  help  her  across  the  stream.  Perhaps  he 
told  her  his  errand.  At  any  rate,  when  he 
returned  to  the  cottage,  he  found  the  Gypsy 
woman  sitting  by  his  wife's  bed,  in  order  that 
she  might  '  spae  '  the  fortune  of  the  babe  :  — 

The  gossip  keekil  in  his  loot, 

Quo'  she,  '  Wha  lives  will  see  the  proof. 

This  waly  boy  will  be  nae  coof, 

I  think  we'll  ca"  him  Robin.""" 

As  we  hope  in  a  future  chapter  tt)  demonstrate 
that  the  Fais  and  the  Marshalls  were  related, 
the  story  as  to  the  famous  ballad  on  Johnnie  Faa, 
the  Gypsy  laddie,  must  not  be  omitted,  and  as 
Mr  Dougall,  in  his  admirable  book  above 
referred  to,  takes  a  more  reasonable  view  of  the 
facts  than  most  who  have  written  upon  that 
subject,  we  quote  what  he  says  :  — 

"  Cassillis  is  famous  as  the  scene  of  the  best 
of  the  ballads  of  Ayrshire. 


Tinkler  Tales^'-'' Johnnie  Faa.'"        291 

The  Gypsies  cam'  to  our  gude  lord's  yett. 

And  O,  but  they  sang  sweetly  ; 
They  sang  sae  sweet  and  sae  very  complete. 

That  doun  cam'  cor  fair  lady. 
And  she  cam'  tripping  doun  the  stair, 

And  all  her  maids  before  her, 
As  soon  as  they-  saw  her  weel-faured  face. 

They  cuist  the  glamourye  o'er  her. 

'  O  come  with  me,'  says  Johnnie  Faa, 

'  O  come  with  me,  my  dearie  ; 
For  I  vow  and  I  swear  by  the  hilt  of  my  sword 

That  your  lord  shall  nae  mair  come  near  ye.' 

'  Gae  tak'  from  me  this  gay  mantil, 

And  bring  to  me  a  plaidie  ; 
For  if  kith  and  kin  and  a'  had  sworn, 

I'll  follow  my  Gypsy  laddie.' 

And  when  our  lord  came  hame  at  e'en, 

And  speired  for  his  fair  lady, 
The  tane  she  cried,  and  the  tither  replied, 

'  She's  awa'  wi'  the  Gypsy  laddie.' 

"There  is  the  usual  circuinstantial  account  of 
the  origin  of  the  ballad.  John,  sixth  Earl  of 
Cassillis,  a  stern  Covenanter,  married  Lady  Jean 
Hamilton,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Haddington, 
a  young  lady  already  secretly  betrothed  to  Sir 
John  Faa,  a  gallant  knight  of  Dunbar.  In  the 
absence  of  the  lady's  husband,  her  lover  came 
to  Cassillis  disguised  as  a  Gypsy,  and  persuaded 
her  to  elope  with  him.  The  '  Gypsy's  Steps,'  by 
which  they  forded  the  Doon,  can  still  be  seen. 
Unfortunately  for  the  fugitives,  the  Earl  returned 
sooner  than  he  was  expected.     He  immediately 


2g2  Tlie  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

set  out  in  pursuit  of  the  lovers,  and  captured 
them  with  little  difficulty.  Sir  John  Faa  and 
his  Gypsy  companions  were  duly  hanged  from 
the  branches  of  the  Dale  Tree,  and  the  lady 
was  confined  for  the  rest  of  her  life  in  a  small 
apartment  of  Maybole  Castle,  the  quaint  oriel 
window  of  which  still  looks  up  the  High  Street. 
There  is  ample  proof  that  this  account  is  pure 
fiction.  John,  sixth  Earl  of  Cassillis,  was 
devoted  to  his  wife  until  her  death  in  1642. 
There  may  have  been  an  erring  countess  of  an 
earlier  date."" 

Another  of  Billy s  Dukineas.  —  "One  day  my 
grandfather,  Hugh  Carter,  and  his  son  were 
busy  trying  to  place  a  large  granite  slab  on  the 
top  of  a  dyke  so  as  to  hang  a  gate  upon  it,  but 
their  efforts  to  raise  the  stone  had  proved  use- 
less. One  of  them  was  about  to  return  to  the 
farm  for  assistance  when  he  heard  a  sound  like 
someone  singing.  Looking  along  the  road  he 
perceived  a  tall  woman  with  a  basket  on  her 
head,  and  the  younger  man  at  once  said  :  '  It's 
Langteethy — she'll  hclj)  us.'  Langteethy  was 
one  of  Billy's  favourite  wives.  She  ap[)ears  to 
have  been,  like  many  another  Cy[)sy  woman, 
[)owerful  in  build,  affable  in  manner,  and  blest 
with  a  good  gift  of  the  gab.  When  she  came 
up  she  said  :  '  What  are  ye  tryin'  to  dae  wi'  that 
stane?'     They  told  her.      IMacing  her  basket  on 


Bv  the  Tinklt7-i    Camp  Fire.  295 

the  ground,  kneeling  down  and  stretching  her 
arms,  she  said  :  'Lay't  there  !'  The  stone  being 
laid  across  her  arms  she,  without  assistance, 
slowly  raised  it  and  securely  placed  it  on  the  top 
of  the  dyke.  As  she  placed  her  basket  on  her 
head  she  remarked  :  '  Ye're  lazy  guid-for-nae- 
things,  and  no  worth  yer  meat!'  and  then 
resumed  her  journey,  singing  as  she  went  !"'^ 

Having  thus  recorded  a  number  of  stories 
indicative  of  the  characteristics  of  Billy  snd  the 
gang  of  Gyjisies  frequenting  Galloway  m  tlie  i8th 
century,  let  us  now  record  a  few  interviews  with 
some  of  the  present-day  Tinklers  of  Galloway  : 

Late  one  April  night  I  visited  an  encampment 
of  Marshalls,  Wilsons,  and  Morrisons.  Dark- 
ness had  just  set  in  when  I  reached  the  camp, 
and  the  red  fire  of  the  muir-burning  was  seen 
high  up  on  the  mountain  sides.  A  wild-looking 
lot  sat  round  the  camp  fiie.  A  young  Tinkler 
woman  was  feeding  her  baby,  and  the  light  of 
the  lire  cast  a  fitful  glare  upon  another  child, 
sitting  half-naked  in  the  bed  camp,  and  crying 
bitterly  for  his  supper. 

"Eh,  eh,"  ejaculated  a  deaf  and  dumb 
Tinkler,  and  Leezie  Morrison  explained  that  the 
dumbie  was  ever  mindful  of  children,  and  though 
he  heard  not  he  always  knew  when  they  were  in 
distress,   and  often   intervened  if  any  on  ;  was 


2  94  The  Tinkltr-Gypsies. 

rough  with  them,  or  even  if  any  one  swore  at 
them. 

Leezie  pointed  to  the  ground,  meaning  that 
they  would  be  sent  to  the  bad  place  if  they 
neglected  the'r  children,  and  the  dumbie 
chuckled  an  nssent. 

Then  T.eezie  made  a  sign  or  two  with  her 
hand — no  deaf  and  dumb  letters  being  used — 
and  explained  she  was  telling  him  he  should 
get  married.  Dumbie  again  made  a  sound  and 
pointed  to  the  front  of  his  cap.  Leezie  inter- 
preted this  as  meaning  he  would  wait  until  he 
went  to  the  place  (Ayrshire)  where  the  men 
(miners)  wear  lamps  on  the  front  of  their  caps. 
Suddenly  one  of  the  Tinklers  snatched  a  burning 
brand  from  the  fire,  and,  rising  suddenly,  up 
went  the  end  of  the  board  on  which  he 
was  sitting,  and  down  went  the  end  on 
which  I  sat,  and  to  my  dismay  I  found  myself 
rolling  down  an  embankment  into  a  ditch. 
My  mind  was  unensy  until  I  heard  him  shouting, 
"  Oh  God,  look  at  the  rats  running  along  the 
hedge,"  and  perceived  that  the  Tinkler  had 
merely  picked  up  the  burning  brand  to  chivvy 
the  rats  along  the  hedge. 

"  Eh,  eh,"  said  the  dumbie,  and  made  a  sign 
or  two  which  Leezie  interiTeted  as  meaning  that 
the  rats  were  just  running  along  the  ditch  by  the 
foot  of  the  hedge  towards  the  water  for  a  drink. 


By  the  1  inkier s'  Camp  Fire.  295 

"  Watch  yer  fingers,"  shouted  William 
Marshall,  "  or  ye'U  get  a  sorn  (thorn)  in  them." 
(Mr  D.  MacRitchie  points  out  on  p.  387,  vol.  ii., 
of  Ancient  and  Modern  Britons  that  in  the 
Seventeenth  Century  Description  of  Cialloway  it 
is  stated  that  "  some  of  the  country  people, 
especiaMy  those  of  the  elder  sort,  do  very  often 
omit  the  letter  ii  after  /  as  ting  for  thing,"  but 
the  Tinklers  seem  to  retain  even  more  archaic 
forms  and  ridiculous  transpositions. 

"  Naebody  but  asintelplom  (simpleton)  would 
be  feared  o'  a  rat,"  said  a  Wilson. 

"  O  God,"  said  Leezie,  '•  they  fa'r  terrify  me 
since  the  dumbie's  auntie  was  bitten  by  yin,  an' 
had  to  hae  an  operation  in  the  infirmary." 

"Oh,"  said  ^Villiam,  "a  delation  (relation)  of 
hers  said  she  had  spent  owre  lang  in  the  pudlic 
(public)  hoose  that  day,  or  she  wad  hae  heard 
the  babbie  greeting  suner.  The  greeting 
wakened  the  faither  onywey,  an'  it  was  him 
that  squeezed  the  life  oot  o'  the  rat  afore  (before) 
it  let  go." 

This  gruesome  story  led  me  to  speak  of  the 
hardship  of  the'r  lives.  One  Tinkler  said  that 
one  of  his  ancestors  was  bDrn  in  the  snow,  and 
that  that  ancestor's  twin  sister  was  born  in  a 
smithy,  where  the  poor  mother  had  been 
hurriedly  carried  for  shelter.  That  led  William 
to  say,   "  Weel,  a  cousin  (/   mine  was  born  on 


296 


The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 


the  street  o'  Tarbolion,  an'  my  mither  was  fun' 
deid  near  Shennanton  Brig  in  a  snaw  drift." 
And  Leezie  Morrison  added  : 

"An'     my    grandfaither    (Protestant     Willie 


A  Typical  Marshall. 


Marshall)  ;iye  snid  that  the  fairies  helped  her 
awa',  for  whun  found  she  was  most  beautiful, 
an'  the  fairies  had  fiitly  [ilniled  her  hair.  It 
was  a'  frozen  on  her  breast,  an"  she  was  a' 
co\ered  owre  wi'  the  spangle  o'  hoar  frost." 


By  the  Tinklers'  Camp  Fire.  297 

U'illiani  then,  pointing  to  a  hardy  htlle  girl 
who  sat  with  her  bare  feet  painfully  close  to  the 
fire,  said — 

"  That  wee  lassie  was  born  on  the  green  at 
The  Ferry,  an'  yer  ain  brither  was  the  doctor. 
She  was  born  the  yin  day,  an'  her  mither  was 
weshin'  her  duds  in  the  burn  the  next  nicht, 
whun  Henry  (her  gudeman)  was  gettin'  the  tea. 
Aye,"  added  AA'illiam,  "  ye  ken  the  wumman 
folks  daurna  cook  a  bite  for  weeks  efter  a  wean 
is  born." 

"  Dear  me,"  I  said,  turning  to  a  young  Tinkler 
husband,  "  do  you  prohibit  your  wife  too  from 
cooking  at  such  times  ?  " 

"  By  God,"  said  he,  "  if  she  did,  Fd  break  her 
jaw."  ■ 

I  asked  Leezie  why  her  father  insisted  on  that, 
but  all  the  answer  I  could  get  from  her  was — ■ 
"  Oh,  just  because  he's  a  clean  aul'  man." 
This  strange  trait  caused  me  to  ask  — 
"  Do  you  knovv  what  the  patrin  is  ?  " 
Several  at  once  exclaimed    "A  minister."       I 
said,   "  A  minister,  or  one  who  shows  the  path, 
is  not  unlike  the  meaning  of  the  word  ;  but  a 
philologist  would  not  admit  that /(7/r///,  a  mini- 
ster, and  patrin  or  patteran  are  the  same."     I 
explained    that,  according    to    the  late   Francis 
Hindes  Groome,  patri/is  are   "  heaps  of  grass  or 
leaves  laid  at  cross  roads  to  indicate  to  loiterers 
the  route  that  they  must  follow." 


298  The  Tinkler  Gxpsies. 

"Oh,"  said  Geordie  MacMillan,  "pull  a  wheen 
feinmcl  (hand)  fuls  o^  fnizim  (grass)  an'  lay't  at 
the  end  o'  the  drum  (road)  or  rross  drums 
(roads),  an'  twirl  the  ends  o't  the  lig  (road)  the 
hur/y  (cart)  Jawd  (went) — that's  the  MacMillan 
ch.irt  a'  the  worl'  ower." 

"Ay,  an'  the  Marshalls'  chart,  too,"  added 
\\'illiam  Marshall. 

Bearmg  in  mind  these  Gypsy  traits,  I  asked 
\\'illiam  Marshall  whether  he  thought  the  Mar- 
shalls favoured  the  Tinkler  or  the  Gypsy  tribe 
most. 

"  By  richts,"  said  \\'illiam,  "  we  arc  Ciypsy 
yins  ('Gyptians?),  for  we  leeve  here,  there,  an' 
everywhere,  a'  owre  the  country  ;  an'  I'm  shure 
we're  as  yellow  as  dockin's."  His  logic  was  not 
quite  convincing. 

"  But  are  you  not  come  of  an  older  race  than 
the  Gypsies  ?"  I  then  asked. 

"  Oh,  ay,  yer  honour,"  he  assented,  "  there 
are  aul'  dessidenters  (residenters)  wha  leeved 
aboot  Kilkcoobrie  (Kirkcudbright)  that  tell't  me 
our  forebears  were  in  this  country  six/y  years 
before  the  'Gyptians  landed  frae  Ireland." 

In  attempting  to  fix  a  date  William  displayed 
woeful  ignorance,  but  it  is  strange  that  nearly 
all  the  Scotch  Tinklers  maintain  that  their 
forefolks  came  into  this  country  by  way  of 
Ireland. 


By  the  Tinklers'  Camp  Fife.  299 

I  told  them  that  I  once  heard  a  Gypsy 
describing  Tinklers  as  a  "swarthy,  dirty,  pelted 
lot  who  never  use  soap." 

"  Ay,"  siid  Leezie,  "  we  get  oor  skins  weel 
eneuch  washed,  an'  though  I'm  aye  weshin' 
mine,  there's  some  o'  us  wjcl  be  the  better  to 
see  saip  oftener.  There  are  upstart  Gypsies  that 
baud  up  their  noses  far  aboon  us,  but  we're 
come  o'  the  real  aul'  oreeginals,  an'  ha'e  been 
far  langer  in  the  country  than  ony  o'  them." 

I  then  related  some  st  iries  nbout  Billy,  and  a 
Tinkler  said  that  he  had  heard  of  Billy,  when  he 
was  a  hundred  years  of  nge,  hiving  a  wrestling 
match  with  a  powerful  farmer.  Billy  had  thrown 
him  with  comparative  ease,  and,  clapping  him 
on  the  back,  said  : 

"  Tak'  care  o'  yer  han'.  There'll  be  the 
makin's  o'  a  man  in  ye  if  ye  leeve  till  ye're 
a  hunner,"  and  William  Marshall  told  a  story 
about  Billy  having  a  wrestling  match  with  a 
farmer  in  presence  of  a  lot  of  his  friends  at 
Canobie.  Billy  was  at  the  farm-house  making 
horn  spoons  for  the  farmer,  and  was  easily 
vanquished  before  the  gallery.  ^Vhen  he  was 
leaving,  however,  he  invited  the  farmer  to  have 
another  wrestle,  and  threw  him  three  times  in 
quick  succession.  The  farmer  was  greatly  sur- 
prised, and  asked  : 


300  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

"  Why   couldn't   you    do    that    before  ?"  and 
Billy's  partuig  rejoinder  was  : 

"  O,  ye  hadna  peyed  me  for  the  spunes  then  ?"" 

Morrison  then  told  about  a  cute  dodge  which 
enabled  a  Tinkler  to  escape  hinging  for  horse- 
stenling  :  A  horse  had  disappeared  from  a 
certain  farm  ;  it  transpired  that  the  farmer  had 
two  horses  precisely  like  one  another,  and  both 
the  horse  which  the  Tinkler  had  obtained 
possession  of  and  the  farmer's  were  inspected  by 
the  court.  The  cou't  asked  if  either  the  farmer 
or  the  Tinkler  had  any  maik  whereby  he  could 
identify  the  animal.  The  farmer  s.iid  the  two 
horses  matched  one  another,  but  the  Tinkler 
went  one  better  by  saying  he  could  tell  his 
horse  anywhere  because  it  had  a  i/i/f y  (smooth) 
sixpence  concealed  under  its  eyebrow.  He 
thereupon  cut  the  horse  underneath  the  eye- 
brow, and  producing  the  slypcy  sixpence  satisfied 
the  court  that  the  horse  was  really  his.  The 
Tinkler  had  taken  the  precaution  a  month  or  so 
before  he  [jerpetrated  the  theft  to  cut  the 
farmer's  horse  under  the  e)ebro\v,  insert  the 
slypey  sixpence,  and  seal  up  the  wound. 

William     interrupted     the    story  -  telling    by 
yelling  at  a  towsy-headed  MicMillan  boy  : 

"  Watch    that   cuddy   or    it'll    get    drownded, 
an'  ye'll  be  the  onl\-  cuddy  left  in  the  camp." 
"  Vc're     an     iggorant    (ignorant)    aul"    man," 


By  the  Tinklers'  Camp  Fi>e.  301 

said  another  MucMillan,  and  added,  "  Do  ye 
ken  that  boy  has  some  of  the  maist  naturable 
(natural)  things  in  his  heid  ye  ever  Ustened 
to.  Let  them  hear  '  Dick  Darby,  the  Strod- 
gribber,'  boy.'" 

In  confirmation  of  the  joke  unconsciously 
perpetrated  the  boy  scratched  his  towsy  head 
and  then  sang  and  acted  "The  Strodgribber  " 
(shoemaker).  The  following  is  a  verse  of  it 
with  the  chorus  (to  the  tune  of  "  Mush, 
Mush  ")  :— 

■"  yiy  ///an/s/iPs'^  rumpy  and  .sluinpy, 
Raw-boned,  farn-teckled,  and  tall, 
And  above  all  the  skukar  dickin  tiiaiiishis'^  e'er  I  saw, 
She  beats  the  old  rtiffie'  and  all. 

Wi'  my  twang,  twang,  twang,  fal  di  di  do, 
Wi'  my  twang,  twang,  twang,  fal  dal  de, 
Wi'  my  hub  bi  bub  bi,  fal  di  do, 
Richt  fal  dal  dal  doodle  dal  de." 

After  the  applause  had  subsided,  Leezie 
Morrison  said,  "  Losh  bless  me,  that  boy  minds 
me  o'  my  aul'  faither  (Protestant  Willie)  when  he 
had  a  dram  in.  He  used  to  shout  '  I'm  Willie 
Marshall,  the  Protestant  Tinkler,  a  kind-hearted 
fellow ;  Erchie,  ye're  a  Papish,'  an'  holding  out 
a  ha'p'ny  in  his  horny  paw,  he'd  say,  '  Could  ye 
pit  a  penny  to  that  ?'  "  A  young  Tinkler  woman 
then  said  that  she  once  saw  him  nearly  killing  a 
child  out  of  kindness  for  herself.    Old  Protestant 

1.  Wife's.  2.  Good-lookiny  women.  3.  Devil. 


By  the  Tinklers'  Camp  Fire.  303 

Will,  it  appeared  from  the  story,  was  very  fond 
of  that  Tinkler  woman  when  she  was  a  child, 
and  one  day  he  and  she  and  another  child  had 
all  been  eating  potatoes  out  of  a  pot,  and 
Protestant  Will  had  thought  his  little  friend 
was  not  getting  fairplay  with  the  other  child. 
He  had  warned  the  offender,  but  she  paid  no 
attention,  and  finally  he  hit  her  with  a 
"  sootherin'  airn  "  that  had  been  lying  handy, 
and  the  favourite  child  then  rushed  out  scream- 
ing, "  The  aul'  man  has  killed  the  wean.  She's 
lyin'  on  the  flure  wi'  the  blude  a'  rushing  oot  o' 
her,  an  noo  he  s  eating  a'  the  tatties."  I  said 
that  I  remembered  the  cheery  face  of  Old 
Proiestant  Will  and  likewise  that  of  his  bosom 
crony  Erchie  O'Neil,  and  repeated  the  war  cry 
he  usually  emitted  in  reply  to  Protestant  Will's  : 
"  Come  on,  I'm  Erchie  O'Neil  frae  the  back  o' 
Belfast ;  can  fecht  ony  man,  walkin'  or  creepin', 
be  he  as  licht  as  a  pig's  blether  or  up  to  my  ain 
wecht."  I  also  recalled  to  them  his  favourite 
boast  when  he  had  a  neggin  o'  whisky  in  :  "  I 
once  hit  an  Irishman  so  hard  that  I  knocked 
him  through  a  plate-glass  window,  scaling 
thirteen  tailors,  an'  then  sent  him  flying  through 
a  brick  wall  on  the  other  side,  an'  he's  never 
since  been  seen." 

Several   anecdotes    were    told    showing    how 
simple-minded,     credulous,     and     superstitious, 


304  The  Tinkkr-Gypsies. 

both  these  Tinkler  men  had  been.  Of  Erchie, 
one  of  the  Marshalls  related  an  aiiusing  story  : 
On  arriving  at  a  village  in  the  north  of  Ireland, 
where  a  number  of  his  friends  were  housed  for 
the  winter,  a  young  Tinkler  infcxmed  Erchie  of 
the  death  of  a  friend,  and  asked  him  to  attend 
his  lykewake  the  same  evening.  Erchie  hailed 
this  as  an  excuse  for  imbibing  even  a  larger 
supply  than  usual  of  whisky.  He  had  been 
asked  to  sit  at  the  head  of  the  table,  where  the 
corpse  was  placed  ;  but  he  had  only  had  a  drink 
or  two,  when  his  head  dropped  forward  on  the 
table  and  he  fell  sound  asleep.  The  cloth, 
which  hitherto  concealed  the  corpse,  was  silently 
withdrawn  ;  and  with  it  the  rest  of  the  company 
withdrew  to  watch  the  after  proceedings  through 
the  window.  A  sound  was  made  on  the  window 
and  Erchie  awoke,  mumbling  to  himself  and 
feeling  for  his  pipe  ;  but  on  looking  straight  in 
front  of  him  a  look  of  ghastly  terror  came  over 
his  face  ;  his  hair  stood  on  end,  and  for  a 
moment  he  was  rivetted  to  the  chair.  Then  he 
staggered  to  his  feet,  and  staring  at  the  corpse — 
that  of  a  pig — all  the  while,  and  with  his  back 
to  the  wall,  he  made  for  the  door,  and  finally 
rushed  out  into  the  street  shrieking  with  terror. 
He  ever  afterwards  believed  that  his  friend — 
who,  by  the  bye,  had  died  some  months 
[)reviously — had  really  been  transmogrified  into 


Tinkle }■>,''  Reticence.  305 

a  pig.  The  explanatiun  ia  that  the  Tinklers 
had  bought  a  pig  on  the  cheap  that  had  died 
suddenly  and  mysteriously,  and  doubtless  thev 
could  have  explained  how  :  and  it  occurred  to 
them  when  they  saw  the  corpse  hanging  up 
that  it  would  be  a  good  joke  to  invite  Erchie  to 
attend  its  lykewake,  but  it  would  have  been  as 
much  as  their  lives  were  worth  had  they  tried  to 
persuade  him  that  he  had  been  present  at  the 
lykewake  of  a  poisoned  pig. 

One  of  the  Tinklers  said  he  would  have  to 
go  and  watch  a  pony  whilst  it  fed  along  the 
road-side.  I  then  arose  and  bade  them  all 
good  night ;  but  a  Tinkler  volunteered  to  see 
me  safely  along  the  road  a  bit,  and  without  any 
signal,  so  far  as  I  could  make  out,  passing  to  the 
dumbie,  he  also  got  up  and  walked  away  with 
me.  Whether  it  was  native  courtesy,  or  he  had 
been  asked  to  do  it,  I  know  not.  Between 
these  two,  on  that  pitch  dark  night,  I  walked  for 
nearly  a  mile  ;  and  then,  after  thanking  them 
and  bidding  them  good-bye,  the  one  said  '•  Gude 
nicht,  an'  may  gude  luck  gang  wi'  ye,"  and  the 
dumbie  endorsed  that  sentiment  by  ejaculating 
"  Eh,  eh."  As  I  walked  home,  I  thought  of 
the  tragic  figure  in  the  snow,  and  the  fairy-like 
work  wrought  on  it  by  the  hoar  frost. 


The   Gypsies   are  at   great  pains  to  {.wevent 
house-dwellers    from    getting     to    know    their 

20 


3o6  The  Ti/ikkr-Gypsies. 

language.  Indeed,  until  recenlly,  whoever 
communicated  such  information  did  so  at  the 
peril  of  their  lives  ;  and  those  who,  like  Grell- 
mann,  Borrow,  Leland,  Groome,  and  Simson, 
obtained  such  information  had  to  act  with  great 
caution  in  using  it.  Even  now,  although  one 
can  learn  so  much  from  books  upon  the  subject, 
•Gypsies  and  Tinklers  have  an  ingrained  aversion 
to  giving  information  about  their  language  or 
cant.  They  have  been  and  are  still  a  much 
persecuted  race,  and  being  able  to  speak  in  a 
language  or  cant  known  only  to  themselves, 
serves  as  a  sort  of  protection,  and  helps  them 
round  many  an  awkward  corner.  Need  it  be 
wondered,  then,  that  they  still  regard  their 
language  or  cant  as  a  useful  asset  ?  There  is 
scarcely  any  trait  in  the  Gypsy  that  you  don't 
tind  repeated — in  a  modified  form,  it  may  be — 
in  the  Tinkler.  In  the  following  interviews  my 
readers  will  observe  that  until  you  gain  the 
Gypsies'  or  Tinklers'  confidence  they  can  prove 
themselves  very  ignorant  ;  hut  once  prove  that 
)ou  have  their  real  interest  at  heart,  they  will 
frankly  tell  you  all  they  know  : 

One  day,  accompanied  by  a  parson,  I  hap- 
pened to  be  walking  along  Duchanan  Street, 
Glasgow,  when  I  spied  a  (iypsy  woman  coming 
along.  She  was  conspicuous  by  the  bright 
colours  of  her  dress  and  headgear,  and  by  the 


Tinklers''  Reficeuce.  307 

leisurely  way  she  came  sauntering  along,  as  if 
the  whole  place  belonged  to  her,  and  as  if  she 
were  strolling  through  a  meadow  instead  of  a 
busy  thoroughfare.  "  Shorshan  pen  f  (How  art 
thou,  sister  ?)  I  said  in  language  known  to  every 
Gypsy,  and  raised  my  hat  as  I  said  so.  But  she 
moved  not  a  muscle,  and  sailed  out  of  sight 
without  ever  looking  back  over  her  shoulder. 
That,  surely,  is  the  one  way  in  which  a  Scotch 
lady  would  not  have  acted  under  similar 
circumstances  \ 

Having  become  afficionada  towards  Gypsies, 
I  had  undergone  a  course  of  pretty  extensive 
reading  upon  the  subject.  That  was  a  fortunate 
circumstance  for  me,  because  had  I  approached 
the  Galloway  Tinklers  without  first  having  had 
some  knowledge  of  cant,  then  I  would  have 
stood  a  poor  chance  of  getting  any  information 
from  them.  Speaking  of  the  reticence  of  the 
Scotch  Gypsies  in  regard  to  their  language, 
Simson  says  : 

"  On  speaking  to  them  of  their  speech,  they 
exhibit  an  extraordinary  degree  of  fear,  caution, 
reluctance,  distrust,  and  suspicion ;  and,  rather 
than  give  any  information  on  the  subject,  wall 
submit  to  any  self-denial.  It  has  been  so  well 
retained  among  themselves  that  I  believe  it  is 
scarcely   credited,   even    by    individuals   of   the 


Tmklers  Beticence.  309 

greatest  intelligence,  that  it  exists  at  nil,  at  the 
present  day,  but  as  slang,  used  by  common 
thieves,  house-breakers,  and  beggars,  and  by 
those  denominated  flash  and  family  men  " 

Until  lately  the  Galloway  Tinklers  were 
despised  and  regarded  merely  as  'common" 
Tinklers  having  nothing  in  common  with  real 
Gypsies  ;  but  now  it  is  both  clear  that  there  is 
Gypsy  blood  in  their  veins,  and  that  their  cant 
contains  many  words  of  real  Romaius. 

In  one  of  my  first  interviews  with  William 
Marshall,  the  present  head  of  the  few  descen- 
dants of  Billy,  who  still  travel  Galloway,  I  had 
some  experience  of  his  reticence  on  the  subject 
of  language.  He  had  told  me  about  an  old 
woman  named  Marshall,  who  lived  at  the  Brig 
o'  Dee,  and  who  had  horn  spoons  and  ladles 
made  by  the  Marshalls.  As  I  was  anxious  to 
obtain  photographs  of  such,  I  suggested  that  I 
might  call  upon  her,  but  William  said  she  might 
now  be  dead,  as  he  had  not  seen  her  for  nearly 
three  years,  and  she  was  then  "  an  aul'  bodie 
d>'i!i(;erin  on  her  feet." 

"  \Vhal's  driugerin^''  I  at  once  asked. 

"Oh,  just  doated,"  he  replied. 

"  Have  you  any  other  words  like  that  ?'' 

"  No,"  he  said  emphatically  ;  but  I  thought  I 
observed  a  sort  of  shiftiness  in  his  eyes,  and 
when   he  added   "  I  maun  awa',"  I  wondered  if 


3IO  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

he  could  really  be  in  possession  of  words  similar 
to  those  I  had  learned  from  Simson's  lists  of 
Yetholm  Gypsy  words.  I  saw  he  was  restless, 
and  knew  I  must  be  quick  if  I  wanted  any 
information,  because  Tinklers  won't  wait  long 
when  in  that  state. 

"  Have  you  any  other  word  for  a  horse?" 

"  Ay,"  he  promptly  replied,  "  a  mare,"  and 
I  would  have  dropped  the  subject,  but  lie 
again  showed  that  it  was  not  to  his  liking  by 
adding  : 

"  I  maun  awa',  for  they'll  won'er  what's  come 
owre  me.' 

"  Have  you  no  other  word  for  a  cuddy  ?"'  I 
asked. 

"Ay,  a  genetan  "  (half-breed  mule),  he  cuitly 
replied  ;  and  as  he  made  for  the  door  he  said 
"  I  maun  really  gaun,  for  the  auV  wumman's 
waitin'  at  the  Brig-en'.'' 

"  Just  one  moment,"  I  intervened  ;  "  would 
you  call  it  an  aizel  or  an  oozel  f 

Smiling  frankly,  he  came  back  towards  my 
desk  and  said  : 

"  We  ca't  an  ooze!.,  but  losh  bless  me,  whaur 
hae  ye  picked  that  up  ?"  His  fit  of  uneasiness 
had  passed  off,  and  for  upwards  of  two  hours  he 
communicated  to  me  the  cant  words  in  use 
amongst  the  Tinklers  of  Galloway.  And  so  the 
Gypsy's  advice — to  talk  to  Gypsies  in  their  own 


Cant  Test  Fails.  3 1  r 

language  if  you  wish  to  make  friends  with  them 
— proved  good  even  in  the  case  of  Tinklers. 

It  is  said  that  in  old  times  when  Gypsies  were 
being  cruelly  persecuted,  they  sometimes  betook 
themselves  to  callings  where  their  identity  could 
be  concealed.  They  often  became  sweeps,  as 
the  soot  concea'ed  their  tawny  complexions. 
One  day  a  Marshall,  a  sweep,  whose  father  was 
also  a  sweep,  paid  me  a  visit. 

"  I  see,"  said  he,  "  ye  say  in  the  Gallovidian 
that  all   the    Marshalls   are  Protestants.     Now, 

that's  a  d d  lie,  for  I'm  a  Catholic,  but  ye're 

richt  a'  the  same,  for  it  was  my  mither  was  the 
Catholic,  but  what  I  called  to  say  is  that  if  ye 
can  make  me  oot  to  be  a  freen  o'  aul'  Billy's 
ye're  welcome  to  do't  if  ye  like,  an'  ye  can  pit  it 
in  the  papers  beside." 

I  made  inquiries  of  him  and  found  he  hailed 
from  the  Mochrum  district,  where  a  branch  of 
the  Marshalls  settled.  I  bethought  me  of  the 
cant. 

"  Do  you  know  any  uncommon  words  ?" 
I  asked. 

"  No,''  he  replied. 

"  Have  you  any  other  word  for  a  horse  ?" 

"  Ay,  a  mare,  of  coorse,"  he  replied. 

"  No,  that  is  not  what  I  mean — ^any  strange 
word  ?" 


Li,  il  -  .,:  ,  -yj 


Paper  Flag  Vendors.  313 

"  No,  what  ither  word  could  there  be  ?"  he 
queried. 

"  Well,  do  you  know  any  cjther  word  for 
a  donkey  ?" 

■'Ay,  a  cuddy  or  a  mule,"  he  answered. 

"  Tut,  tut  !  Well,  did  you  ever  hear  your 
father  call  your  mother  by  any  other  name  than 
'  wife  ?' "  (hoping  he  would  answer  manishi). 

"  No,  never  "  (a  halt  for  a  second)  :  "  ay  weel, 
I  wull  admit  it,  '  a  yammerin'  blastie.'  "  And 
so,  though  there  are  indications  of  a  Gypsy 
origin,  I  have  failed  in  redding  up  that  bit  of 
family  history  ! 

The  other  day  I  espied  an  old  man  and 
woman,  with  a  cuddy  and  cart,  coming  along  a 
street.  A  little  boy,  with  a  bottle  in  his  hand, 
came  running  up  to  them,  and  the  old  man  and 
woman  ran  to  meet  him.  The  woman  took  the 
bottle  and  the  man  lifted  a  paper  flag  from  the 
rails  of  the  cart,  which  was  gaily  decorated  with 
these,  and  handed  the  flag  to  the  boy,  who  ran 
off  cheering  lustily,  and  soon  after  other  boys 
followed  suit,  and  trade  was  brisk  for  a  time 
with  the  old  couple.  Their  appearance  sug- 
gested that  they  were  Tinklers,  and  after  my 
first  word  with  them,  I  could  have  sworn  they 
were  Tinklers.  I  had  gone  up  to  the  old  man 
and  said  : 


314  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

"What's  an  aizel  f  (Tinklers"  cant  f(K  a 
donkey),  and  he  at  once  pointed  to  his  donkey 
and  reph'ed  : 

"  That's  one." 

Then  I  said  ; 

"  You  are  Tinklers  then  ?" 

"  No,"  he  rejoined,  "  we  are  bad  and  bad 
enough,  but,  thank  God,  we  are  not  so  low 
down  as  Tinklers." 

"  Well,"  I  said,  "o/s^/is  Tinklers'  cant." 

"  That  may  be,  hut  it's  German  tongue,  and 
if  you  want  the  Cxerman,  French,  or  Holland 
tongue,  come  to  me  and  I  can  give  it  you 
grammatical  true." 

Further  conversation  elicited  that  he  was  born 

at  Mnrseilles,  was  a  Schneider  (tailor)   to  trade, 

fought  in  the  Franco-Pruss'an  war,  and   also  for 

the  Northern  States  in  the  American  Civil  War. 

He  gave  me  the  following  as  cant  words  used 

on  the  Continent : — 

Aizel — cuddy. 

Skee/htr — tailor. 

Kip  pa — cap. 

H6te—\\z\. 

S/io — boots. 

Steve!  —long-legged  boots. 

Bucksa — trousers. 

Mushfakir  (Eng. )  — umbrella  man 

A' //(-/•— coat. 

I  was  doubtful  about  the  spelling  of  this  last 
word,  and  on  asking  him  to  spell  it,  he  said 
"  R-u-c-ka." 


Tinklers'   Wily  Ways.  315 

The  following  conversation  ensued  : 

"  What  is  the  value  of  bottles  ?"  I  enquired. 

"  Fourpence  ha'p'ny  a  dozen,"  he  replied. 

"  And  you  give  a  flag  for  each  ?" 

"Yes." 

"  How  much  profit  is  that  on  each  trajis- 
action  ?" 

"  Nigh  a  ha'p'ny." 

"  How  that  ?" 

"  Well,  you  see,  the  paper  doesn't  cost  us  the 
most  of  nothing,  an'  we  only  lose  our  labour." 

"And  how  much  a  week  do  you  usually 
earn  ?" 

"Oh,  mebbe  half-a-croon  ;  or,  if  tredd  be 
good,  three  shillings." 

As  I  passed  Palnure  one  evening  on  my  wa}' 
to  The  Ferry,  I  observed  some  Tinklers  en- 
camped. Further  on,  I  met  two  women  driving 
a  "  float,"  as  they  term  a  kind  of  light  lorry.  I 
had  never  seen  them  before,  but  asked  if  I  might 
take  their  photo.  They  consented.  As  I  fixed 
up  my  camera,  I  heard  them  comparing  notes 
as  to  how  best  to  circumvent  me  ;  and  after 
taking  their  photo,  and  whilst  fixing  my  camera 
on  to  my  bicycle,  I  heard  the  one  say  to  the 
other,  "  Maiig  to  him,  iiia7ig  to  him  (speak  him 
fair),  and  we'll  get  barrie  lozvie  (big  money)." 
Having  obtained  from  them  an  address  to  which 


3i6  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

I  promised  to  send  them  photos,  I  handed  one 
of  the  women  threepence,  remarking  that  that 
was  all  the  change  I  had.  All  at  (jnce  the  other 
flew  into  an  assumed  passion  and  shouted  out, 
"  An'  am  I  to  get  nothing,  me  that  has  been 
hawking  The  Ferry  a'  da\',  an'  hasna  made  a 
sixpence  lo  feed  the  six  hungry  bairns  that  are 
waiting  for  their  supper  at  the  camp  ?"  I  had 
spoken  truly,  and  could  not  pander  to  her 
trickery  if  I  had  been  so  inclined  ;  and  so  I 
mounted  my  bicycle  and  left  her  still  mildly 
fuming.  On  my  return  journey  I  called  lo  see 
them  at  their  camping  ground.  l"he  fir.-t  to 
meet  me  was  the  man  whom  I  had  on  a  former 
occasion,  at  the  .Market  Field,  Newton-Stewart, 
surprised  by  showing  that  I  understood  him 
when  he  spoke  in  cant.  He  at  once  turned  to 
the  two  women  who  were  busy  cooking  at  the 
camp  fire  and  said,  "  \'ou  have  made  right 
fools  of  yo'.-rselves  ;  this  man  knows  cant,  but 
you're  not  the  first  he  has  made  look  silly  in 
that  way,"  and  turning  to  me,  he  added,  "  I'll 
never  forget  how  ye  took  me  down  before  big 
Henry  Smith,  the  Gypsy."  I  told  them  that 
houses  had  ears,  and  that  they  should  be  more 
-careful  in  future,  as  I  had  found  their  conversa- 
tion so  absorbing  that  I  had  spoiled  the  photo 
by  forgetting  to  turn  along  the  film,  and  had 
come  to  take  them   over  again.      Later  on,  an 


Kennedies.  3 1  7 

old  cotman  and  his  wife  and  dog  came  down  to 
the  camp  to  see  what  was  going  on.  After 
Hstening  for  a  Httle  to  the  talk  about  taking 
photographs,  the  old  man  said  :  "  The  collie 
an'  the  aul"  wumman  an'  me  would  tak'  a  gude 
photie,"  but  I  did  not  rise  to  that  fly.  The 
Tinklers  commenced  to  talk  in  cant,  which  at 
best  is  but  a  broken  jargon.      I  remarked  : 

"  The  auld  g^idgis  (house  dwellers)  would  like 
to  know  what  we  are  niangan  (talking)  about," 
whereat  the  Tinklers  laughed.  The  old  man 
looked  at  the  old  woman,  who  said  : 

"  I  think  I  maun  awa'  up  to  mind  my  kettle,'" 
and  in  a  second  or  two  the  old  man  put  his  pipe 
in  his  pocket  and  said  : 

"  An'  I'll  hae  to  awa'  an'  water  the  beasts." 

Later  on  a  Tinkler  had  gone  up  to  the  cot- 
house  to  get  a  kettle  of  boiling  water,  and  when 
she  came  back  she  said  : 

"  That  aul'  majiishi  (woman)  says — '  Losh 
bless  me,  I  never  did  hear  the  likes  o'  yon. 
Wha's  he,  yon  ?  He  maun  be  yin  o'  ye,  but  he's 
better  put  on  than  the  lave  o'  j^e.'  " 

Being  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  town  where 
some  relatives  of  the  Kennedies  who  travelled 
Galloway  resided,  I  thought  I  should  like  to  en- 
deavour to  ascertain  whether  they  knew  any 
cant  words.     I  persuaded  a  friend  to  accompany 


3i>S  The  Tuikler-Gypsies. 

me.     The  door  was  answered  by  a  woman  who 
had  not  by  any  means  a  characteristic  Tinkler 
face  ;   it  was  too  full  and  flabby.      I  enquired 
"  Are  you  Mrs  Kennedy  ?  " 
"  Yes,"  she  replied. 

"  Are    you    related    to    the    Kennedies,    the 
■Galloway  homers  ?  " 

"Ay,  mygudeman  was  ;   but  he's  deid." 
"  Do  you  know  any  cant  words  ?  " 
''^^'hat  may  that  be?"  she  innocently  enquired. 
"  Oh,  words  known  only  to  Tinklers." 
'"No,"  she  emphatically  answered. 
I  then  said  : 

"  You  were  the  wife  of  a  Kennedy  and  don't 
know  any  cant  words  ?  " 

'■  Well,"  she   said,   "  ye  see,  I  wasna   aye   a 
Tinkler,  though  I  married  yin." 

"  But,"  I  said,  "  what  do  you  take  me  for  ? 
You  lived  with  a  Kennedy  for  twenty  years  and 
never  picked  up  any  cant  words  ?  " 
"  No,  never." 

Then  tlie  following  was  the  dialogue  : 
Myself:  "  What  is  ■d.gryeV 
Mrs  Kennedy  :   "  \\'hat  is't  yersel'." 
Myself  :   "  A  horse,  is  it  not  ?  " 
Mrs  Kennedy  :   "  Weel,  may  be  it  is." 
Myself:  What's /^w/ ; " 
Mrs  Kennedy  :   "  What  is't  yersel'  ?  " 
Myself:  "Water,  is  it  not?" 
.Mrs  Kennedy:  "Weel,  may  be  it  is." 


Tinklers^  Reticence.  319 

But  I  had  to  prove  my  knowledge  by  giving 
-about  six  different  cant  words  ere  she  gave  any 
direct  admission  of  knowledge  of  cant.  It 
turned  out  that  she  and  her  family,  who  stood 
.silently  around,  eargerly  listening  all  the  time, 
knew  cant  thoroughly.  An  old  woman  who  sat 
just  outside  an  inner  door  of  Mrs  Kennedy's 
house,  after  listening  for  a  time,  threw  up  her 
hands  and  exclaimed,  "  Weel,  I  never  heard  the 
likes  o'  that  ;  I  kent  the  Marshalls  at  the  Brig 
o'  Dee,  an'  ihae  Kennedies  for  the  past  forty 
years,  an'  I  hae  come  oot  an'  in  this  hoose  for 
lang  eneuch,  an'  I  never  did  hear  yae  word  o' 
that  afore.  Ye  maun  be  yia  o'  them  yersel'." 
But  the  mixture  of  tramp  and  homer  soon 
makes  itself  apparent.  I  asked  her  son  to  allow 
me  to  take  a  photo  of  him  holding  in  his  hands 
two  baskets — specimens  of  his  father's  handi- 
work. He  replied  gruffly,  "  Wull  ye  gie  me  a 
shuUing  if  I  let  ye  tak'  my  photie  ?  "  Now,  no 
pure  bred  Tinkler  would  ever  have  contrived 
to  get  money  in  such  an  im.polite,  uncrafty 
manner. 

As  we  were  leaving,  Mrs  Kennedy  shouted 
after  me  : 

"  Do  you  ken  what  a  manishi  (woman  or  wife) 
is  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,"  I  replied. 

"  Hae  ye  got  yin  ?  " 


Tiuklei-s  like  Hunted  Hares.  321 

"  Yes,"  I  answered,  thinking  of  my  mother 
and  sisters,  and  then,  to  avoid  misleading  her, 
I  thought  it  wise  to  add  : 

"But  I'm  no\.  ackomed''  (married),  whereupon 
Mrs  Kennedy  flew  into  a  passion,  and  stamping 
her  feet,  she  yelled  at  me — 

"  Eh,  man,  ye  haena  the  C-0-U-R-R-R-AGE." 

My  friend,  who  had  beaten  a  speedy  retreat 
round  the  corner,  anxiously  inquired  what  had 
gone  wrong  with  her,  and  when  I  explained 
about  the  ambiguity  contained  in  the  word 
manishi,  he  then  understood  how  I  could  afford 
to  laugh,  and  has  had  many  a  hearty  laugh  at 
the  little  episode  since. 

'I'o  make  the  peace,  however,  1  took  the  pre- 
caution to  send  them  a  number  of  the  photos 
taken  on  that  occasion,  and  apparently  this  had 
the  effect  of  soothing  her  temper,  because  the 
next  time  she  met  me,  she  did  not  even  allude 
to  the  incident  :  Some  months  afterwards  I  had 
been  at  a  beagle  hunt  on  the  hills  near  Lang- 
holm. One  of  the  hares  was  started  quite  close 
to  me.  It  sped  past  me  with  its  ears  flat 
against  its  neck,  and  with  the  beagles  following 
closely  on  its  scent.  I  happened  to  be  sianding 
on  a  hill  and  could  watch  the  chase  for  miles 
around  on  either  side,  The  hare  ran  gamely, 
but  the  hounds  were  not  to  be  shaken  off.  The 
huntsmen,  however,  who  had  to  follow  on  foot, 

21 


32  2  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

found  the  pace  too  swift  for  them,  and  had  to 
take  up  the  chase  in  relays — a  fresh  one  taking 
up  the  management  of  the  pack  whenever  a 
huntsman  fagged.  Once  the  hounds  had  ahiiost 
caught  up  on  their  quarry,  when  it  disappeared 
into  a  wood,  followed  closely  by  the  whole  pack ; 
but,  as  it  emerged  much  sooner  than  the  hounds, 
it  was  evident  that  it  had  thrown  them  off  the 
scent.  The  hare  headed  straight  for  where  it 
had  been  started  from.  As  it  neared  the  spot 
where  I  had  remained  standing,  the  poor,  terri- 
fied creature  came  panting  up  the  hill,  and  it 
was  pitiful  to  see  it  bobbing  about,  trying  to 
find  a  place  amongst  the  long  heather,  where  it 
might  conceal  itself.  Soon  the  baying  of  the 
hounds  again  started  it,  and  I  cared  not  to 
witness  the  final  tragedy.  Returning  from  this 
beagle  hunt  by  the  road  to  Langholm,  I  met  a 
poor  woman  with  a  number  of  little  children 
straggling  along  behind  her.  As  I  passed  I 
said,  "  Barrie  davies,  nawken "  (Good  day, 
'I'inkler),  whereupon  she  bent  forward  her  head 
and  hastened  her  steps,  and  all  ihe  children 
huddled  closely  in  to  her,  much  in  the  same  way 
as,  when  alarmed,  chickens  creep  under  the 
wings  of  their  mother.  Strange  to  say,  I  had 
just  been  speaking  to  the  friend,  who  was 
walking  with  me  and  who  was  also  interested 
in  Gypsies,  about  the   reticence  of  the  Gypsy 


Tii/klers  Perseiiiied.  323 

race,  when  this  striking  example  happened. 
I  said  : 

"  That  is  a  Tinkler  and  I  know  her." 

"  Mrs  Kennedy,"  I  cried  and  they  hurried 
faster  forward.     I  said  to  my  friend  : 

"She  does  not  want  to  admit  she  is  a 
Tinkler,  but  I'll  make  her  speak." 

"Did  you  get  the  photographs  I  sent  you  ?" 
1  shouted,  and  she  immediately  turned  round 
and  replied  : 

"  Oh,  it's  you  ;  I  didna  recognise  ye.  Yes,  I 
got  them,  an'  mony  thenks  to  yon,  kind  sir." 

Soon,  to  the  great  amusement  of  my  friend, 
all  of  them,  from  the  mother  down  to  the 
youngest  child,  were  plying  me  with  cant  words. 
Somehow  I  felt  that  these  poor  creatures  bore  a 
striking  resemblance  to  the  hunted  hare  as  it 
bobbed  about,  trying  to  find  a  safe  hiding-place 
amidst  the  long  heather.  Gypsies  have  been 
persecuted  for  centuries,  and  an  insane  law 
seeks  to  kill  their  hereditary  roving  tendencies 
by  compelling  them  not  to  stay  more  than  a 
night  or  two  at  any  camping  ground.  Could 
anything  be  better  calculated  to  perpetuate  their 
instinct  for  a  free,  wandering  life  ? 


-tT-: 


CHAPTER    VII. 


A  Scotch   Gvpsv  Village. 


"  From  the  moorland  and  the  meadows 
To  the  City  of  the  Shadows, 

Where  I  wander,  old  and  lonely,  conies  the  call  I 
understand  : 
In  clear,  soft  tones,  enthralling 
It  is  calling,  calling,  calling — 

'Tis  the  Spirit  of  the  Open  from    the  dear  old   Bor- 
derland." 

From  "  Tlie  Bor.lerland,"  liy  Roger  Quinn,  Tramp  Poet, 
descended  from  the  Faasoflvirk  Yetliulm. 


'^^TEADILV,  though  imperceptibl)-  it 
may  be,  the  mould  of  civiHsation  is 
so  impressing  itself  upon  Gypsies  as 
to  cause  them  to  lose  their  striking 
appearance,  characteristics,  and,  yea, 
even  their  individuality.  In  an 
"  Evening  ^Valk  "  Wordsworth  alludes  to  the 
once  pretty  general  custom  amongst  Gypsies  of 
using  panniers  : 

"  Their  panniered  train  a  group  of  potters  goad 
Winding  from  side  to  side  up  the  steep  road." 

And  Hogg  shows  that  the  custom  also  prevailed 
in  Scotland  : 

"  With  loitering  steps  from  town  to  town  they  pass, 
Their  lazy  dames  rocked  on  the  panniered  ass." 


Change  in  External  Thiiigs.  325 

The  panniered  ass  is  a  sight  rarely,  if  ever, 
seen  in  Scotland  nowadays.  Change  in  external 
things,  however,  takes  place  much  more  rapidly 
than  is  the  case  with  habit  of  mind.  If  one 
keeps    his    eyes  open  he  will  be  surprised  how  -^ 


Watsons. 

(Photo  by  A.  M'Cormick.) 

frequently  in  interviews  with  Tinklers  the  Gypsy 
characteristics  peep  through. 

That  thought  was  borne  in  upon  my  mind 
during  a  recent  brief  visit  to  a  village  still  much 
frequented  by  Scotch  Tinklers.  My  principal 
errand   was   to   find   out   whether    the  muggers 


326  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

there  knew  the  Tinklers'  cant.  Sir  George 
Douglas,  in  his  "  Essay  on  Kirk  Yetholm 
Gypsies "  in  his  book  The  Diversions  of  a 
Coutitry  Gentleman,  says,  in  alluding  to  the 
language  of  the  Border  Gyps'es  :  "  It  has  died 
hard,  if  indeed  it  can  be  said  even  now  to  be 
dead";  and  my  friend  the  Doctor  of  the  village 
I  was  visiting  had  led  me  to  understand  that 
the  muggers  did  not  know  cant. 

To  reach  the  village  I  had  to  drive  a  number 
of  miles  from  the  nearest  railway  station.  My 
driver  was  a  nice,  bright  lad  of  about  17  yenrs 
of  age.  To  pass  the  time  I  thought  I  would 
try  to  draw  him  about  the  inhabitants  of  tlie 
village.     I  asked  him  : 

"  Are  there  any  Gypsies  living  in  Kirkton  ?'" 

"  No,"  was  his  curt  reply. 

"  Tinklers  ?"' 

"  No." 

"  Muggers  ?" 

"  No." 

I  was  pu/.zled  because  I  had  been  informed 
otherwise. 

"  Are  there  any  Wilsons?" 

"  Ay." 

"  What  do  they  do?'' 

"Oh  !  they're  horse-dealers" 

"  ^Vhat  sort  of  people  are  they  ?'' 

"  Oh  I  cannir  folks  the  \Vilsons^big  horse- 
dealers — an'  aye  pey  cash  doon  on  the  nail." 


Gypsy  Traits.  327 

I  wondered  if  my  Doctor  friend,  who  had  led 
me  to  understand  that  these  very  people  were 
possessed  of  Gypsy  blood,  could  have  been 
mistaken.  Presently  a  trap  approached  us.  The 
horse  came  along  in  grand  style,  and  as  I 
looked  at  the  driver  I  noticed  he  was  black- 
avised  and  possessed  of  keen  black  eyes. 
Undoubtedly  he  was  a  born  horseman,  for  the 
impression  left  on  my  mind  was  that  horse, 
trap,  and  man  were  all  of  a  piece  I 

"  That's,"  said  my  driver,  "  yin  o"  the  Wilsons. 
He's  the  boy  to  handle  a  horse,"  and  then  after 
a  few  minutes'  reflection  he  added  : 

"  But  there's  queer  differs  (differences)  in 
drivers.  Noo,  there's  the  Doctor  (mine  host  I), 
he  just  let  his  horse  tak'  him  richt  oot  owre 
that  bank  the  ither  d:iy." 

I  had  not  done  musing  over  professional 
jealousy  which  my  driver's  remark  had  sug- 
gested when  I  alighted  at  the  Doctor's  door. 
The  Doctor  was  out  making  some  calls,  but  his 
sister  greeted  me.  My  Gypsy  errand  soon 
became  the  topic  of  conversation.  She  informed 
me  her  brother  was  convinced  that  the  muggers 
in  the  village  were  all  of  Gypsy  extraction,  but 
nevertheless  he  was  prepared  to  bet  that  they 
did  not  know  the  Tinkler-Gypsy  cant.  I 
enquired  as  to  the  age  of  the  oldest,  and  being 
informed  that   "  R 1  is  over  So."  T   replied 


328 


The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 


that  I  would  be  greatly  surprised  if  she  did  not 
know  cant  thoroughly. 

The  Doctor  soon  came  in,  and  being  informed 
of  my  views  on  the  subject  he  said  :  "  Well, 
you  will  soon  have  an  opportunity  of  judging  of 


iPlioto  by  A.  M'Cormick.) 

them  for  yourself,  because,  this  being  Christmas 
time,  I  am  expecting  a  visit  from  the 
'  Goloshians,'  who,  in  this  village,  are  generally 
muggers'  children." 

In  the  afternoon  three  little  girls  most  daintily 
dressed    in    white   dresses    did    call,   and   were 


Gypsy  Traits.  329 

brought  into  the  dining-room.  I  was  nonplussed 
by  their  up-to-date  style  of  dress — the  change 
fashion  had  wrought  upon  them — and  felt  I  had 
been  over-confident  in  thinking  that  this  tribe 
would  still  he  possessed  of  cant  and  of  other 
Gypsy  traits.  I  was  soon  undeceived,  how- 
ever. The  girls  (young  ladies  all  of  them)  were 
invited  to  sing  a  song,  and  it  was  singular  ttat 
out  of  the  many  songs,  of  which  I  knew  them  to 
have  been  possessed,  they  should  choose  first 
^'  Navaho,"  and  then  by  way  of  encore  "  Idaho," 
songs  which  savour  of  the  songs  of  Red  Indians, 
and  which,  like  some  of  our  own  choruses,  in 
many  cases  have  no  words  but  merely  vocables  : 

"  E-a-aha-ah-E-he-a-ha." 

I  had  no  longer  any  doubt  as  to  their  having 
a  strong  strain  of  Gypsy  blood  in  them 
when  two  of  them  clapped  their  hands  and 
stamped  their  feet  and  the  third  one  danced  as 
they  sang  this  verse  : 

"  Na-va,  Na-va,  my  Na-va-ho, 

I  have  a  love  ft)r  you  that  will  grow  ; 
If  you'll  have  a  coon  for  a  beau, 
I'll  have  a  Na-va-ho." 

None  of  the  non-Gypsy  villagers  could  have 
evinced  such  striking  vivacity  as  they  did. 

Gypsy  blood  was  easily  diagnosed,  but  whether 
they  possessed  cant  was  still  a  moot  point.  We 
took   them    out   to   have    their    photos    taken, 


33C  The  Tiukler-Gxpsies. 

dancing  the  "  Navaho  "  dance.  I  thought  I 
would  throw  a  fly  over  them.  All  of  them  had 
nice  "  patten  "  shoes  on,  and  that  gave  me  my 
opportunity.  While  looking  steadily  at  their 
faces,  I  said,  "  Keep  your  pretty  *■  pieris  '  closer  ; 
I  must  have  them  in  the  photo." 

Instantly  they  all  looked  suspiciously  at  my 
friend  the  Doctor,  then  at  one  another,  and 
finally  at  me-  They  burst  out  laughing,  looked 
down  at  their  feet,  and  drew  them  clo-er 
together.  W^ord  after  word  I  tested  them  with 
in  the  presence  of  the  Doctor,  and  to  his  great 
surprise  he  learned  that  even  theG\psy  children 
knew  cant.  Just  as  these  Gypsy  girls  were 
leaving  there  was  heard  a  loud  knocking  at  the 
door,  and  there  were  ushered  in  three  little  boys, 
wearing  by  way  of  disguise  men's  coats  turned 
outside  in  and  Tam  o'  Shanters,  and  each  with 
his  face  blackened.  Without  any  palaver  by 
way  of  introduction,  they  commenced  to  go 
through  the  usual  "  white  boys' "  rhymes, 
ending  : 

"  Here  comes  I,  old  Beelzehulj, 

And  over  my  shoulder  I  carry  in\'  clnli, 

And  in  my  hand  the  fryiiig-pan, 

I  carena  a  damn  for  ony  man. 

I  come  here  neither  to  beg  nor  l(j  t>orro\v, 

But  I  come  liere  to  sweep  away  all  sorrow. 

Please  put  a  penny  into  old  Heel/.ieV  hat  ?" 

Before  complying  with  that  rccpiest  I  tried  haal  to 


Tinkler  "  White  Beys"  331 

get  those  three  Httle  boys  to  admit  they  knew 
cant.  Word  after  word  I  tried  them  with,  but 
they  said  me  "  Nay."  I  had  given  up  in  despair, 
and  was  proceeding  to  hand  them  some  copper>, 


Tinkler  ''Wh.te  Boys." 

when  all  at  once  an  idea  struck  me.      Holding 

up  a  halfpenny,  I  said  : 
"\\'hat's  that,  Johnnie?" 

Greedily  Johnnie  shouted  out,  "A  curdee,  sir." 
'•Now,"  said  I,   "  Davy,  you  were  done  that 

time." 


332  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

"  Haud  up  anither  yin,  sir,"'  said  Davy. 

This  time  I  held  up  a  penny,  and  all  of 
them  in  unison  shouted  out  "  A  hij-a^  sir," 
and  grabbed  at  the  penny.  Thereafter  all  was 
plain  sailing.  The  Gypsy  women  are  much 
cleverer  and  possessed  of  much  keener  sen- 
sibilities than  the  men,  probably  due  to  the 
greater  scope  for  work  given  to  them  for  having 
their  wits  developed  and  sharpened — a  strong 
argument  for  the  suffragettes  I  And  it  is  a 
strange  coincident  that  these  more  alert  Gypsy 
girls  should  have  evinced  more  decided  Gypsy 
characteristics,  by  favouring  the  song  and  dance 
of  the  Coons  or  Red  Indians  while  their  more 
phlegmatic  brothers  should  have  evmced  a  liking 
for  something  more  in  keeping  with  the  Tinkler 
element  in  their  character  by  preferring  a  per- 
formance common  to  all  Scotch  children. 

Writing  of  the  Algonkin  race  of  Red  Indians, 
Professor  Prince  in  Kiiloskap  the  Master,  by 
Leland  and  Prince,  .says  : — "  No  man  can  ever 
know  now  whence  the  Algonkin  races  came. 
Whether  they,  with  other  peoples,  were  emi- 
grants from  palceoliihic  Europe,  crossing  by  way 
of  some  long  since  vanished  land-bridge,  or 
whether  they  wandered  into  their  present 
habitat  from  the  western  part  of  our  own  con- 
tinent, having  had  their  origin  in  pre-historic 
Asia,  it  is  impossible  to  say,  and,  in  view  of  the 


Red  Indians  Gypsy-like.  333 

absolute  darkness  in  which  we  grope  all  theories 
are  futile." 

There  is  much,  however,  in  the  history, 
traditions,  and  characteristics  of  Indians,  Red 
Indians,  and  Gypsies  which  is  strikingly  similar. 

In  "  The  Light  of  Asia,"  Arnold  ascribes 
Gypsy-like  traits  to  Siddartha  (Buddha),  who 
sought  to  win  his  love,  the  sweet  Yasodhara,  in 
open  combat  at  bending  the  bow,  swaying  the 
sword,  and  backing  a  horse.  After  he  had 
beaten  the  other  Sakya  lords  at  using  the  bow 
and  sword,  he  displayed  a  Gypsy-like  trait  and 
won  his  prize  by  taming  the  mighty  stallion — 

"Till  men,  astonished,  saw  the  night-black  horse 
Sink  his  fierce  crest,  and  stand  subdued  and  meek," 

which  the  others  had  failed  to  do. 

A  gentleman  who  lived  for  a  long  time  in 
India  described  Billy  Marshall  as  wearing  skins 
of  lamprey  eels  tied  round  his  wrists,  but  as  he 
never  saw  Billy  Marshall,  the  statement  must 
either  be  founded  on  tradition  or  it  may  be  that 
he  attributed  to  him  the  characteristic  of  some 
Indian  tribe  he  had  come  across.  Longfellow 
describes  a  somewhat  similar  practice  amongst 
the  Red  Indians  : — 

"  On  his  head  were  plumes  of  swansdown, 
On  his  heels  were  tails  of  foxes, 
In  one  hand  a  fan  of  feathers, 
And  a  pipe  was  in  the  other." 


334  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

But  the  proof  is  more  suggestive  than  con- 
clusive, and  it  does  not  do  to  overplead  the 
cdse.  These  similarities  may  all  be  what  one 
might  expect  to  find  in  races  at  a  similar  stage  of 
development,  apart  altogether  from  a  common 
origin  ;  but  the  one  race  casts  an  interesting 
sidelight  on  the  other. 

\Vhether  or  not  Red  Indians  and  Gypsies 
have  had  a  common  origin,  it  is  certain  that 
they  will  meet  the  same  fate,  for  white  civilisa- 
tion is  steadily  submerging  and  stamping  both 
races  out  of  existence.  Such  an  interesting 
human  document  as  Schuhze's  My  Life  as  an 
Indian  bears  out  many  striking  resemblances 
between  Red  Indians  and  Gypsies — in  pride, 
dignity,  appearance,  love  of  horses,  tender- 
hearted faithfulness  and  love,  their  child-like 
natures,  innate  refinement  of  mind,  similarity  of 
oudook  on  life,  and  in  being  highly  superstitious. 
That  delightful  book  also  proves  that  they  have 
been  similarly  tram{)led  upon  by  the  "tender- 
feet,"  and  is  a  most  damning  indictment  of  the 
effects  of  white  civilisation  upon  the  dark  races. 

The  Gypsy  children  at  least  proved  them- 
selves to  be  possessed  of  the  capacity — enjoyed 
also  by  many  Gypsiologists — for  being  fascinated 
by  Indian  folk-songs;  and  whether  or  not  there 
be  distant  racial  affinity  between  Red  Indians, 
•  Gypsies,  and  Indians,  we  may  at  least  give  the 


Tinkler  Children  Polite. 


335 


-Gypsy  children  credit  for  having  evinced  a 
<;haracteristic  common  to  all  three  races — a  love 
of  dancing. 

These   mugger   children   vvere,   one   and  all, 


^^'-^h^ 


A  North  American  Indian  Woman. 

most  polite,  and  had  great  aptitude  for  intro- 
ducing the  word  "  sir  "  on  the  slightest  provo- 
cation. 

Later  the  same  evening  I  resolved  to  pay  a 
visit  to  the  head  of  the  mugger  colony.  My 
friend  the  Doctor  kindly  volunteered  to  accom- 


336  The  Ttnkltr-Gypsies 

pany  me,  but  I  had  heard  from  his  own  hps  that 
he  had  once  published  an  article  on  the 
muggers,  in  which  he  had  applied  such  an  un- 
fortunate and  inaccurate  word  as  '  mendacious  ' 
towards  the  Gypsies.  I  guessed  that  that  one 
slip  would  cause  the  whole  clan  to  preserve  the 
secret  of  the  cant  from  him,  and  I  decided  to  call 
alone,  but  asked  him  to  drop  in  after  I  had  been 
in  the  mugger's  house  some  little  time  When 
I  stepped  out  into  the  badly  lit  street  I  ran 
against  a  lad  who  was  standing  in  the  middle  of 
the  street  right  opposite  the  Doctor's  door.  It 
was  a  bitterly  cold  night  and  I  wondered  what 
he  could  be  standing  there  for.  He  said  (quite 
casually  as  if  he  had  been  standing  there 
awaiting  me)  : 

"  Halloa." 

1  looked  into  his  face  and  then  recognised  my 
driver.  I  said  "  Halloa  !  what  are  you  doing 
here  ?  " 

He  made  no  answer,  but  proceeded  to  walk 
alongside  of  me. 

I  then  asked,  "  Where  are  you  going?  "  and 
he  re[)lied 

"  Naebit,  sir  !     Whaur  are  you  gaun  ?  " 

The  thought  somehow  flashed  across  my 
mind  that  the  mugger  community  might  have 
put  the  boy  up  to  watch  me.  It  was  a  bit  eerie. 
I  was  puzzled.      I  asked  him  if  he  could  tell 


Gypsy  Traits.  337 

me  where  R— — 1  Wilson  lived.  To  my  surprise 
he  said,  "Ay,  sir,  that's  my  grannie." 

Regaining  my  composure  I  said  : 

"  Oh  !  then  you  are  one  of  the  cannie 
Wilsons  ?" 

He  laughed  and  partly  reassured  me  by 
saying,  "  Come  on,  an'  I'll  tak'  ye  in  to  see  my 
grannie,  sir." 

Grannie  happened  to  be  out  at  the  time,  but 
her  son — the  man  I  had  seen  driving  the  flash 
turnout — a  straight,  lithe,  handsome  -  looking 
man  with  the  keen  resourceful  look  of  a  Gypsy 
stamped  upon  his  face,  was  in.  He  was  most 
reluctant  to  talk  about  the  affairs  of  Egypt,  and 
I  began  to  deplore  the  absence  of  the  old 
grannie.  I  could  not  effect  a  proper  opening 
on  the  subject  of  cant.  I  tried  to  chaff  him 
into  good  humour.  I  bantered  him  about  the 
huge  profits  be  had  been  making,  and  then  said 
I  would  be  glad  to  make  his  will  (as  I  had  once 
heard  another  lawyer  offering  to  do)  and  to  hand 
him  back  half  a  sovereign  with  it  on  the  off 
chance  of  getting  such  a  fat  estate  to  wind  up  ! 
Laughingly  he  answered,  "  I  kent  by  the  cut  o' 
yex  Jib  ye  were  a  lawwer." 

"■Jib,"  I  repeated,  "  what's  that  ?" 

"  Yer  lawwer's  tongue,  an'  that  reminds  me 
1  sell't  a  man  six  horses ■" 

"  What's  '  tschib,'  then  ?"  I  interrupted. 


338  The  Ti)ikler-Gypsies. 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  iDcan,  but  as  I  was 
saying  the  man  got  the  horses,  but  I  didna  get 
the  money •" 

My  thoughts  were  on  another  tack  and  I 
again  interrupted,  "  What's  '  chee  '?" 

"  I  don't  understand  you,"  and  then  he 
rattled  on,  "but  as  I  was  saying,  he's  aff  wi'  my 
horses  to  Hamburg  without  peying  them,  an' 
he's  naethin'  that  I  can  get  ava " 

"What's  '■chee  chee'' T  I  again  enquired, 
and  he  answered,  "  1  tell  ye  I  don't  understand 
what  yer  talkin'  aboot,  but  setting  the  case  as  I 
hae  said " 

"Do  you  know  what  'cant'  is?"  I  bluntly 
interrupted. 

"  I  ken  fine  what  ye  mean,  noo.  I  never 
learned  ocht  o'  the  kin'.  But  whit  wad  ye  dae 
in  siccan  a  case  ?" 

To  humour  him  I  said  : 

"  Well,  if  he  has  nothing  at  present  you 
might  think  it  wasting  money  to  take  out  a 
decree,  but  if  he  is  in  the  habit  of  dealing,  it 
would  come  in  handy  for  poinding  the  next 
consignment  of  horses  he  wishes  to  ship 
abroad." 

Just  as  I  had  given  my  gratuitous  advice,  a 
little  boy  entered  without  shutting  the  door.  I 
turned  and  said  to  him  sternly  : 

"  Klissen  the  7vooder,  chauvie  /"  (Shut  the 
<ioor,  boy). 


A  Baillie.  339 

Without  hesitation  he  wheeled  roLind  and 
shut  the  door.  Turning  to  my  friend  I  said, 
"  I  perceive  that  cant  has  a  way  of  skipping  a 
generation."  He  smiled,  and  thereafter  he  was 
frankness  itself,  and  would  have  told  me  any- 
thing. A  little  later  on  the  old  grannie  came 
in,  and  I  think  she  must  have  heard  of  my 
kindness  to  her  grandchildren,  the  singers, 
dancers,  and  "white"  (black)  boys,  because 
she  at  once  entered  upon  a  long  dissertation 
on  the  affairs  of  Egypt.  The  generally  accepted 
idea  is  that  the  Border  "  Gypsies  "  are  a  dif- 
ferent race  from  the  Tinklers  of  the  rest  of 
Scotland,  but  the  truth  is  that  they  are  one  and 
the  same  race.  I  soon  gathered  sufficient  infor- 
mation from  her  to  know  that  she  was  well 
versed  in  cant,  and  that  the  cant  spoken  in 
that  neighbourhood  is  that  common  to  all  non- 
Gaelic-speaking  Scotch  Tinklers.  She  was  a 
pleasant-looking,  dark-eyed,  olive-complexioned 
old  lady,  and  the  description  given  by  George 
Borrow  of  Esther  Faa  (quoted  in  chapter  x.) 

would  have  been  equally  applicable  to  R 1, 

who  was  one  of  the  Baillie  family.  Later  on  the 
Doctor  arrived,  and  we  spent  a  delightful  evening 
sitting  chatting  in  as  clean  and  as  comfortable  a 
kitchen  and  before  as  nice  a  fire  as  it  has  ever 
been  my  good  luck  to  do.  I  was  sorry  to  have 
to  leave,   and  on  going  away  I  thought  it  my 


340  Tlie  Tinkler-Gyf'sies. 

duty  to  compliment  her  on  the  tidiness  of  her 
"  wee  "  house.  But  she  wanted  no  half  compli- 
ments, and  as  sharp  as  a  needle  came  her 
Gypsy-like  retort : — 

"  Wee  !  I  have  five  other  rooms  as  big  as 
this  and  every  yin  as  clean."  Although  the 
Doctor  attended  her  professionally,  and  they 
were  evidently  the  best  of  friends,  yet  apparently 
she  had  not  altogether  forgotten  about  the 
unfortunate  application  of  the  word  "  men- 
dacious," for  when  he  rose  to  go  she  gave  him 
this  neat  parting  shot  :  "  Gude  nicht,  Doctor. 
It's  a  while  since  ye  hae  bided  sae  lang  at  my 
fireside  !" 

Next  morning  was  a  Sunday.  After  breakfast 
I  was  vacantly  gazing  out  of  the  dining-room 
window  and  across  the  street,  when  I  heard  the 
click  of  a  latch,  and  there  emerged  from  a 
cottage  opposite  an  old  lady-like  woman,  with 
an  air  of  gentility  and  a  pale  ascetic  counten- 
ance that  bespoke  trouble  and  a  will  to  bear 
it.  She  wore  a  large  scoop  bonnet  known  as 
an  "ugby,"  and  was  bent  on  getting  a  can 
of  water  from  a  "  well  "  hard  by.  The  well  had 
a  covering  on  it,  apparently  meant  to  protect  it 
from  the  drip  of  an  overhanging  tree.  As  she 
stood  there,  lifting  the  can  by  means  of  a  rope, 
I  thought  she  made  a  quaintly  beautiful  picture. 
She  seemed  a  woman  wedded  to    "  the  trivial 


The  Simple  Life!  341 

round,  the  common  task."  I  attracted  the 
Doctor's  attention  to  her,  and  he  informed  me 
her  sister  had  but  a  few  hours  to  Hve.  How  sorry 
I  felt  for  her,  and  my  sorrow  was  apparently 
shared  by  many  others^  though  I  doubt  if,  in  their 
case,  it  was  not  misplaced.  One  after  another 
came  along,  as  noiselessly  as  possible  opened  the 
door,  and  slipped  in,  until  there  must  have  been 
half  a  dozen  women  folks  inside.  As  the  Sabbath 
bells  tolled  mournfully  there  passed  into  the 
house  a  man  whom  I  surmised  to  be  an  elder 
who  thought  it  his  duty  to  absent  himself  from 
the  house  of  worship  to  attend  the  house  of 
mourning.  He  had  not  been  in  long  when  the 
door  opened  with  a  bang.  A  woman  rushed 
excitedly  out  and  ran  clattering  along  the  street, 
and  it  was  evident  that  the  stricken  woman  had 
"  won  awa'."  I  often  recall  the  beautiful  picture 
of  that  heroic  figure  at  the  well.  The  lives  of 
her  sister  and  herself  had  probably  been  spent 
in  that  little  cottage,  and  daily  they  would  draw 
the  water  from  that  self-same  well.  How 
different  from  the  free  open  life  of  the  Gypsy, 
and  who  dare  gainsay  that  the  Gypsy  life  is  the 
more  likely  to  produce  real  happiness  ? 

Next  day  I  paid  a  visit  to  a  well-known  Gypsy 
character,  "  Wag  Stewart."  Being  the  festive 
season,  he  had  been  conforming  strictly  with 
the    customs    of   the   country.      He    was    in    a 


342  The  Tinkler  Gypsies. 

talkative  mood,  and  voluble  as  Gypsies  always 
are  when  the\'  mean  to  be  frank  with  you.  I 
asked  him  who  was  the  best  authorit)-  on  cant 
in  the  village,  and  he  replied  modestly  : 

"  Me  and  Teddy  Billington  "  (an  Englishman 
then  being  entertained  in  one  of  His  Majesty's 
places  of  detention). 

So  1  thought  I  had  better  take  ni)-  festive 
friend  to  task  sharply.  "Well,"  I  said,  "for 
every  cant  word  you  give  me  for  that  hat,  I'll 
bet  you  a  shilling  Til  give  you  four." 

"  Youj::;/"  finished  his  store,  and  I  at  once 
gave  him  four  cant  words  for  it.  He  looked  at 
his  wife  and  said  : 

"  Leezie  !  ye  haena  treated  the  gentleman." 

She  produced  the  bottle.  I  thanked  her, 
but  declined  her  kind  invitation,  and  without 
uncorking  it  she  replaced  it  in  the  press.  Never 
shall  I  forget  the  aggrieved  look  that  Tinkler 
man  gave  me  as  the  bottle  disappeared. 
He  .sat  revolving  the  matter  in  his  mind 
for  some  minutes,  and  then,  looking  up  l)learily, 
it  suddenly  dawned  on  him  that  something  was 
dangling  in  front  of  him  intercf^pling  his  line  of 
vision. 

"That's  a  S7viishie  (hare),"  he  saitl.  "  I'll  bet 
you  a  shilh'ng  I  ken  whaur  to  catch  four  o'  them 
for  every  yin  you'll  catch." 

An  old  woman  was  sittting  with  her  back  to 


The   linkiers'  Den.  343 

me.  Wag's  wife  was  feeding  a  baby  as  she 
walked  about  the  room,  and  when  I  rephed, 
"  Being  a  detective,  I  have  a  fair  guess  where 
that  one  came  from,"  the  sudden  fierce  look 
that  came  into  all  their  faces  caused  me  to  feel 
that  I  could  not  have  said  that  with  impunity 
in  such  a  company  a  hundred  years  ago.  I 
smiled,  and  they  calmed  down  ;  but  I  had  lost 
their  confidence.  Ere  long  one  of  the  women 
said  : 

"  Wha's  that  comin'  up  the  road?" 
The  other  woman  snatched  down  the  hare 
skin  and  flung  it  out  of  sight,  and  the  Gypsy 
man  moved  towards  the  back  door.  How  she 
could  see  the  road  bewildered  me,  because  she 
was  not  looking  at  the  window.  I  noted  her 
line  of  vision,  and  following  it  I  perceived  that 
there  was  a  little  pane  in  the  partition  which 
surrounded  the  door,  and  through  which  they 
had  complete  command  of  the  road  approaching 
the  house  It  was  a  false  alarm,  but  it  enabled 
me  to  slip  out  quietly,  after  bidding  them  a 
hurried  good-bye. 

That  evening  the  Doctor  proved  that,  despite 
his  slip  in  using  the  word  "mendacious,"  he 
possessed  the  true  instincts  of  the  Romani  Rye. 
He  told  me  the  story  of  the  passing  away  of 
Jimmy,  "the  last  of  the  Border  Gypsies."  Here 
is  his  fine  description  of  how  the  end  came  : 


344  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

"  '  My  dear  friend,'  the  minister  remarked,  as 
he  bent  over  the  dying  man,  '  yours  has  been 
a  trauchled  and  an  eventful  Hfe.'  '  Ay,  ay,' 
gasped  Jimmy.  '  But,  Mr  Methven,  wha's 
pownie  micht  that  be  ?  '  '  It's  the  Doctor's,' 
replied  Nance.  'Imphm!'  was  the  rejoinder. 
'That  pownie  minds  me  o'  the  spirited  beastie 
we  had  when  we  camped  in  Muirdroggat  wud- 
Ye  mind  the  wud  o'  Muirdroggat,  Nance?' 

"At  this  stage  Jimmy's  recollections  were  cut 
short  by  a  paroxysm  of  coughing,  which  left  him 
utterly  prostrated.  Still  the  minister  sat  as  if 
rivetted  to  his  chair.  Everything  in  the  humble 
apartment  had  a  new  interest  for  him.  Suddenly 
a  smile  broke  over  the  face  of  the  dying  man. 
'  Nance,'  he  whispered,  '  I  thocht  it  was 
hame,  but  it's  the  wud  o'  Muirdroggat.  D'ye 
hear  the  burn  an'  the  singing  o'  the  Unties? 
It's  graun  !  It's  graun  !'  And,  transported  by 
fancy  to  the  moorland  where  the  happiest  hours 
of  his  life  had  been  passed,  the  last  of  the 
Border  Gypsies  passed  from  the  known  to  the 
unknown  land." 

But  my  friend  the  Doctor  has  since  been  pre- 
vailed upon  to  record  the  whole  story,  and  my 
readers  will  do  well  to  refer  for  the  complete 
story  to  page  138  of  vol.  xi.  of  that  admirable 
monthly.  The  Border  Magazine. 

In  the  afternoon  I  had  arranged  to  take  some 


The  Muggers'  Clii'dren  Confide.       345 

photos  of  Gypsy  children.  I  had  no  sooner 
turned  the  corner  into  the  street  where  dwell 
the  muggers  when  a  little  boy  came  up,  and, 
taking  me  by  the  hand,  led  me  along  in  triumph 
and  chatted  gaily  as  we  went. 

"Will  you  come  back  the  morn?"  he 
anxiously  enquired. 

"  Will  you  pray  for  me  to  come  ?'  I  asked. 

"  Ay,  sir,"  he  answered  to  my  surprise. 

"  What  prayer  do  you  ask,  my  boy  ?  " 

Glibly  he  replied  : 

"  Four  posts  to  my  bed, 

Four  angels  round  my  bead — 
Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John, 
Bless  the  bed  ihat  I  lie  on." 

Bah  !  I  was  disillusioned.  I  speedily  took 
the  photos,  and  on  my  leave-taking  the  children 
cheered  lustily.  As  I  passed  along  to  the 
other  end  of  the  street  where  a  trap  awaited  me, 
heads  popped  out  at  every  door  to  see  what 
strange  being  this  could  be  who  was  interested 
in  Gypsies.  As  I  sped  along  in  the  Mugger's 
trap  I  talked  for  a  time  of  Romany  matters 
to  my  driver,  and  then  I  fell  to  musing  over  the 
constant  recurrence  of  Gyj^sy  charactetistics  in 
the  Tinkler,  but  alas,  alas  !  there  can  be  no 
further  doubt  as  to  the  decadence  of  the  Scotch 
Gypsy  race,  for  had  not  the  little  lankier  boy 
said,  "Four  posts  to  my  bed;  "  and  how  sharp 


346  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

a  contrast  there  is  between  such  a  sleeping  place 
and  that  of  the  English  Gypsy's  bridal  chamber 
depicted  in  one  of  Mr  \Vatts-Dunt()n"s  beautiful 
sonnets  : — 

"  The  young  light  peeps  through  yonder  trembling 
chink, 
The  tent's  mouth  makes  in  answer  to  a  breeze  ; 
The  rooks  outside  are  stirring  in  the  trees 
Through  which  I  see  the  deepening  bars  of  pink. 
I  hear  the  earliest  anvil's  tingling  clink 
From  Jasper's  forge  ;  the  cattle  on  the  leas 
Begin  to  low.     She's  waking  by  degrees  ; 
Sleep's  rosy  fetters  melt,  but  link  by  link. 
What  dream  is  hers  ? "' 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


Tinklers'  Bairns. 


Avien  a  shel  d  Gorgios  Jitias  leu  Romany. 

(Among  a  hundred  Gorgios  you'd  know  the  Romany.) 

Barrere  and  LelancVs  "  Dictionary  of  Slang.' 

^T  would  be  difficult  to  prove  that 
people  who  live  in  houses  are  happier 
than  people  who  live  in  tents  :  but 
short  of  asking  the  Tinklers  to  give 
up  their  style  of  dwelling,  many  things 
might  be  done  for  them  which,  in  the 
course  of  time,  would  tend  to  ameliorate  their 
condition.  It  is,  at  least,  our  duty  as  a 
Christian  nation  to  see  that  the  hardship  of  the 
lot  of  Tinkler  children  is  minimised  as  far  as 
possible. 

People  are  prone  to  regard  Tinklers  in  their 
worst  possible  light.  They  see  a  Tinkler  man 
or  woman  maltreating  a  child  or  dumb  animal, 
and  the  whole  Tinkler  tribe  are  judged  in  the 
light  of  such  an  incident.  But,  out  of  a  fairly 
intimate  experience  of  Tinklers,  I  wish  to 
preface  this  chapter  by  saying  that  the  one  thing 
that    surprises    me    on     my    frequent    visits    to 


348  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Tinklers'  camps  is  the  kindness  bestowed  upon 
children. 

I  h.ive  been  struck  by  the  way  in  which 
Tinkler  women  fondle  and  caress  their  children, 
as,  sitting  by  the  camp  fire,  they  put  them  to 
sleep  by  singing  some  quaint  lullaby.  There 
are,  however,  Tinkler  women  and  Tnikler 
women,  and  as  with  house-dwellers  so  with 
tent-dwellers,  any  rightly  directed  attempt  to 
protect  little  Tinkler  children  from  maltreat- 
ment by  bad  parents  will  be  welcomed  by  those 
of  the  Tinklers  themselves  who  are  kind  to  their 
ciiildren.  It  is  to  plead  for  the  Tinkler  children 
that  I  here  record  a  few  incidents  in  their  lives. 

Of  the  kindliness  and  sensitiveness  of  the 
nature  of  some  of  the  Tinklers,  let  me  give  an 
example.  Recently,  when  writing  an  article  on 
Tinklers  (see  p.  190  supra),  I  was  at  some 
pains  to  show  how  a  Tinkler  woman's  love  had 
gone  out  to  her  delicate  boy.  To  bring  out  the 
point  in  my  story  I  had  described  him  truly  as  a 
dwarf  ho)\  Some  one  had  read  the  article  to 
the  Tinkler  woman,  and  she  had  wept  bitterly 
when  she  hid  heard  the  word  "dwarf"  read. 
^Vhen  asked  why  she  wept  she  said  :  "  His 
words  are  kind  eneuch,  but  Tinklers  ha'e  their 
feelings  as  weel  as  ither  folk,  an'  he  had  nae 
business  ca'in'  my  wee  boy  a  dwarf."  My 
attempt  to    fathom  the    depth  (jf  that  Tinkler 


Gypsy  Woman  and  Child  at  Las  Palmas    Grand  Canary. 
(Photo  by  A.  MacNeur.  t 


35°  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

woman's  feelings  had  failed,  and  il  took  her  own 
remark  to  clinch  my  argument — that,  despite 
the  Tinklers'  uncouthness  and  rough-and-ready 
way  of  bringing  up  their  children,  they  are,  as  a 
rule,  exceedingly  fond  of,  and  kind  to,  little 
children.  I  should  have  avoided  writing  such 
an  expression  about  my  little  friend,  and  should 
these  words  ever  reach  them,  both  mother  and 
boy  may  know  that  they  have  my  apology. 

As  a  reflex  of  the  Tinkler  women's  kindliness 
of  nature,  they  trade  upon  the  same  feelings 
in  the  hearts  of  house-dwellers.  A  little  nephew 
of  mine,  who  hails  from  the  far  north,  repeats  a 
rhyme  which  sounds  like  what  Tinklers  would 
say  in  vending  their  wares  : 

"  Do  you  want 
A  slander, 
A  brander, 
Or  a  gey  guid  pailey, 
Or  a  raltle  for  the  bairnie  ?  " 

Sometimes  their  pleading  takes  this  form  : 
"  Guid  day  to  ye,  mistress  ;  can  I  sell  ye  a  nice 
wee  pingley-tingley  to  boil  a  fresh  egg  for  the 
maister's  breakfast  ?  Eh  !  but  that's  a  bonnie 
wee  bairn,  an'  she  fiivours  you,  my  lady  ;  what 
age  is  she  ?" 

"  Only  four." 

"  Dear  me  !  an'  what  bonnie  blue  een  ;  they 
wad  wile  a  deuk  (duck)  aff  the  water." 


Tales  about  Tinklers  Bait ns.  351 

And  after  all,  what  child  can  be  prettier  in 
the  eyes  of  a  mother  than  her  own  ?  and  so  she 
fall';  a  ready  victim  to  the  Tinkler's  clever  wiles. 

The  uncouthness  and  roughness  in  appearance 
and  manner  of  Tinklers  is  due  largely  to  the 
circumstances  in  which  they  are  reared.  Lately 
I  foregathered  with  a  blind  Tinkler  woman  (see 
p.  177  supra)  \\\\o  "izX  in  the  mouth  of  her  tent 
smoking  a  clay  pipe,  whilst  her  little  grand- 
children played  on  the  ground  in  front. 

"Do  the  children  ail  often?"  I  asked:  and 
she  replied  : 

"  Yin  o'  them  yince  had  the  measles,  but 
nane  o'  the  rest  ever  ailed  for  an  hour.  They're 
as  healthy  as  troots." 

Later  on,  noticing  one  of  the  children  busy 
grubbing  up  dirt  with  a  spoon  and  eating  it,  I 
told  grannie  what  the  child  was  domg,  but  she 
merely  answered  : 

"  Never  mind  ;  it'll  gar  the  bairn  grow." 

In  the  course  of  a  further  chat  I  asked  her  : 
"  What  do  Tinklers  do  when  any  of  them  take 
ill  T 

"■  We  get  the  doctor,"  she  answered,  "  an' 
they're  generally  guid  to  us  travellers,  but  they 
canna  do  muckle  for  us,  for  ye  see  ive''re  aye  in 
the  fresh  air.^' 

So  there's  the  Tinkler's  imprimatur  on  the 


Tales  about  2 inkier s  Bairns.  353 

recent  awakening  as  to  the  benefits  to  be 
derived  from  the  open-air  treatment. 

Think  of  the  misery  the  poor  Tinklers  must 
endure  when  ill-health  overtakes  them,  and  they 
have  to  lie  on  a  bed  of  wet  straw.  What  terrible 
suffering  must  have  been  endured  by  that  blind 
Tinkler  woman,  for  the  eyes  have  actually  been 
eaten  out  of  her  head  by  inflammation.  That 
same  old  blind  Tinkler  woman,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, had  the  honour  of  being  spoken  to  by 
the  King  and  Queen  when  they  were  Prince 
and  Princess  of  Wales,  and  on  another  occasion 
received  a  present  of  a  sovereign  from  the 
Duchess  of  Fife.  When  asked  if  she  had  kept 
that  sovereign,  she  replied  : 

"  'Deed  I  wad  hae  liked  to,  but  I  had  to  let 
it  gang  for  bed-claes  and  claes  for  the  weans." 

It  was  the  duty  of  a  little  Tinkler  child  to 
lead  about  that  old  blind  Tinkler  woman  from 
door  to  door,  ostensibly  to  sell  some  trifling 
.wares,  but  really  to  play  upon  the  good  folks' 
sympathy  for  the  poor  old  blind  Tinkler  woman. 
I  put  it  to  a  Tinkler  if  that  wasn't  the  case,  and 
he  frankly  admitted  : 

"  Aul'  grannie  is  the  best  spoke  in  oor  wheel." 

One  winter  day  I  met  a  scantily-clad,  bare- 
footed Tinkler  boy,  and  asked  him  : 

"  Do  you  never  catch  cold  ?"     He  at  ones 

23 


Tales  about  Tinklei-s'  Baii-ns. 


;55 


glibly  jerked  out-  much  as  if  it  had  been  one 
word  he  had  been  saying  : 

''  I-ne'er-had-a-toit-in-a'-the-days-o'-my-life." 

Early  one  summer  morning  I  visited  a  Tinkler 
camp.  The  only  signs  of  life  were  a  mule,  a 
cuddy,  and  a  horse  grazing  near  the  camp, 
and  a  little  naked  boy  who  came  toddling  to 
meet  me.  I  gave  him  a  penny  and  he  ran 
away  back  to  the  camp  holding  aloft  the  penny 
and  shouting  ^''  Deek"  (look),  and  soon  all  the 
camp  was  astir.  After  taking  some  snap-shots 
of  the  Tinklers,  I  noticed  the  little  fellow,  who 
heralded  my  arrival,  still  naked  and  at  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  camp,  waving  vigor- 
ously to  some  other  little  Tinklers.  I  asked  a 
Tinkler  what  the  child  was  crying  out  : 

"  Oh,"  said  he,  "  he's  trying  to  get  the  ither 
bairns  awa'  owre  to  the  road  (about  200  yards 
away)  to  play  at  pitch-an'-toss  !" 

A  child  had  died  at  a  Tinklers'  encampment. 
Next  day  a  little  Tinkler  boy — a  brother  of  the 
child  who  had  died — called  at  a  farm,  house  near 
where  the  Tinklers  were  encamped.  The  door 
was  attended  by  the  farmer's  wife.  The  little 
Tinkler  boy  said  to  her  : 

"  Please,  mem,  Til  sing  ye  a  sang  if  ye'll  gie 
me  a  scone  ?" 


Tales  about  Tinklers  Bairns.  357 

The  woman  was  shocked  at  his  apparent 
levity,  and  said  : 

"  Eh,  sirce,  ha'e  ye  forgotten  already  what 
happened  at  the  camp  yestreen  ?  " 

"  Beg  pardon,  mem,"  replied  the  little  Tink- 
ler boy,  "  I  was  greetin'  a  wee  while  ago." 

Lately  I  fell  in  with  a  friend  of  mine — poor  old 
grannie  MacMillan  or  Campbell.  She  was  accom- 
panied by  a  little  orphan  Tinkler  boy.  Their 
whole  belongings  in  this  life  are  seen  in  the  photo 
given  as  an  illustration.  Old  grannie  was  the 
worse  of  drink  that  day,  and  by  way  of  apology 
she  proceeded  to  tell  me  a  most  pathetic  story, 
but,  alas  !  her  maudlin  state  had  made  her  for- 
get that  she  had  tried  the  same  story  on  me  on 
a  former  occasion.  She  said  she  had  been 
going  up  the  road  and  a  kind  lady  had  found 
her  leaning  against  the  railings  in  front  of  her 
house.  "  Oh,  kind  lady,"  she  told  me  she  had 
said,  "  I  was  juist  comin'  alang  there  an'  some- 
thing went  wrang ;  a'  at  yince  a  darkness  come 
owre  me,  an'  something  like  shutters  cam'  doun 
owre  me  een  "  (here  she  gasped  for  breath), 
"an'  the  kind  dear  lady  said,  'A  mouthful  o' 
speerits  would  revive  you,'  an'  she  kindly  gied 
me  a  wee  c'a«/  0  peeve  ^'  (glass  of  whisky).  .  .  . 
"Ye  wudna  deny't  till  aul'  grannie,  yer  honour, 
whun  it  keeps  the  verra  breath  o'  life  in  her?" 

The    "kind   dear"   lady  had  been  taken  in, 


358  The  Tntkler-Gypsies. 

and  all  the  time  grannie  was  telling  me  this 
story  the  little  orphan  boy  stood  by  giggling. 
I  said  to  him  I  had  heard  that  crack  before, 
and  the  boy  said  : 

"  Ay,  weel  ye  ken  she  telled  the  wumman 
lees,  for  grannie's /^^t//V  (drunk)  the  day." 

After  chatting  with  them  for  a  while  I  gave 
the  boy  a  few  coppers  and  he  quietly  disap- 
peared. Soon  after  the  old  grannie  missed  him 
and  cried  out,  "  Isaac."  I  bade  adieu  to  her, 
and  long  after  I  could  hear  her  bawling  out 
'■'■  Imac !  Isaac P'  On  reaching  the  town  I 
beheld  poor  little  Isaac  busy  eating  a  scone 
outside  a  baker's  shop. 

The  Tinklers  are  a  queer  mixture.  Even 
that  old  Tinkler  woman,  in  spite  of  her  wily 
ways  and  of  being  addicted  to  drinking,  is 
possessed  of  a  kindly  nature,  because,  after  she 
sold  the  mother  of  the  puppies  shown  in  the 
illustration,  she  wept  all  day. 

All  that  milder  type  of  hukni  (deception  of 
house-dwellers)  is  quite  legitimate  in  the  eyes  of 
Tinklers,  ^^'ith  good  reason  they  regard  house- 
dwellers  as  their  hereditary  persecutors,  and  to 
work  (as  they  term  it)  the  gadgis  is  a  matter  in 
which  they  pride  themselves. 

Drink  is  directly  responsible  for  much  of  the 
misery  entailed  on  Tinkler   children.      I   have 


o  ^: 


360  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

seen  a  towsy-headed,  half-drunk  Tinkler  woniaiT 
handing  out,  fr<jm  a  public-house  where  the 
Tinkler  men  and  women  were  carousing,  a  jug 
of  beer  to  a  little  girl  as  she  sat  watching  the 
Tinklers'  cart  outside.  I  have  been  told  also  of 
a  half-drunk  Tinkler  woman  going  about  with 
her  newly-born  babe  slung  in  a  shawl,  but  with 
its  head  down  and  its  heels  up  I  Ht)w  can 
children  reared  in  such  a  way,  and  with  their 
very  blood  tainted  with  a  craving  for  drink, 
have  a  chance  to  live  good  moral  li\es  ? 

Example  has  a  most  important  influence  on 
the  upbringing  of  a  child,  and  where  the  parents 
are  almost  constantly  under  the  eye  of  their 
children,  as  is  the  case  with  Tinklers,  the 
children  are  influenced  to  an  exceptional  extent 
by  the  example  of  their  parents.  The  whole 
family  are  too  frequently  huddled  together  into 
small  vans  or  bed-tints.  Recently  a  gentleman 
friend  of  mine  saw  a  little  Tinkler  girl  sitting 
in  the  half  of  a  sugar  barrel  which  was  lying  on 
its  side,  and  asked  her  : 

"  Do  )ou  really  lind  100m  to  sleep  in  there?' 
"  Ay,"  was  the  ready  reply,  "  and   my   mither 
an'  faither  an'  aul"  grannie  forbye." 

Let  me  close  these  rambling  notes  nbout 
incidents    in    thu    life  of   Tinkler    children    by 


Tinkler  Bairns  Despised.  361 

recording  the  chorus  of  a  pathetic  little  song 
which  a  poor  little  Tinkler  child  once  sang  to 
me.  The  pathos  of  it  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is 
a  song  greatly  to  the  liking  of  Tinklers  boih  old 
and  young,  and  might  even  be  regarded  as 
showing  that  Tinklers  have,  after  all,  a  kind  of 
vague  craving  for  a  more  settled  and  restful  life  : 

"  For  it's  nice  to  liave  a  little  iiome  of  yoiu"  own. 

And  sit  on  your  own  fireside  ; 
If  ye've  only  got  a  table  and  a  chair 

It's  all  your  own  and  you're  welcome  there  ; 
Ye're  as  good  as  anybody  in  the  land, 

You're  as  happy  as  a  king  upon  the  throne  ; 
What  more  is  it  ye  want, 

When  ye've  got  the  wife  and  kiddies, 
And  a  nice  little  ho.ne  of  your  own  ?" 

In  these  days  of  desire  for  a  return  to  the  simple 
life  there  is  much  in  the  mode  of  life  of  the 
Tinkler  thai  might  be  imitated  with  profit 
Their  love  of  fieedom,  of  fresh  air,  and  of  living 
amidst  beautiful  scenery  are  all  commendable. 
In  their  simplicity  of  tastes — particularly  where 
such  takes  the  form  of  freedom  from  that 
craving  for  luxury  which  is  sa;jping  the  nation's 
manhood — they  possess  a  quality  which  we 
might  well  strive  to  possess.  But  doubtless  it 
will  occur  to  the  reader,  after  perusing  the  fore- 
going anecdotes  indicative  of  the  bid  upbringing, 
neglect,  and  suffering  of  m  my  Tinkler  children, 
that  something  remains  to   be  done  for  them  ; 


!62 


The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 


indeed  for  the  children  of  all  tent-dwellers.  Any 
reform  should  be  gradual,  and  the  regulations 
should  be  such  as  would  bear  lightly  upon 
these  poor,  oppressed  people.    We  must  bear  in 


Spanish  Gypsy  Woman  and  Children. 


mind  that  the\'  are  the  residuum  of  an  ancient 
race — something  (luilc  tliffcrent  from  the  ne'er- 
do-weels  of  the  p  esent  generation —and  are 
struggling  against  strong  hereditary  tendencies. 
Some  very  simple  regulations  would  do  much 


Beneficial  Regulations.  363 

good.  By  way  of  indicating  the  kind  of  regula- 
tions which,  I  consider,  might  prove  beneficial, 
let  me  tentatively  suggest  a  few — and  my 
readers  will  likely  be  able  to  suggest  amend- 
ments on  some,  and  other  regulations  will 
probably  also  occur  to  them  : 

1.  Make  it  incumbent  that  every  Tinkler's 
bed  tent  should  be  kept  at  least  a  foot  off  the 
ground.*  This  simple,  effective,  and  admirable 
regulation  was  suggested  to  me  by  a  Tinkler 
woman.  One  of  the  company  had  suggested 
that  Tinklers  would  soon  be  driven  off  the  road. 

"Never,"  replied  the  Tinkler  woman,  and,  as 
she  hugged  her  little  baby  to  her  bosom,  she 
added,  "  But  in  the  interests  o'  oor  bairns  they 
micht  make  us  keep  oor  beds  a  foot  off  the 
grun'." 

2.  Make  it  the  duty  of  sanitary  inspectors 
systematically  to  inspect  Tniklers'  camps. 

3.  Insist  on  Tmkler  children,  of  proper  age, 
attending  school  regularly  for  two  months  or  so 
in  winter  time  when  they  usually  take  to  living 
in  houses. 

4.  During  these  two  months  arrangements 
might  also  be  made  to  give  facilities  for  grown- 
up Tinkler  lads  and  lasses  to  learn  some  simple 
trade  that  could  be  turned  to  profit  when   they 

^The  so-calleJ  "  German  "  Gypsies  had  an  ideal  airangement. 
The  Gypsies  lay  all  round  \vith  their  feet  in  the  centre,  in  which 
■direction  the  wooden  floor  sloped  downwards. 


364 


The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 


are  moving  about.  (Note. — Their  principal 
callings,  horn-.spoon  making  and  making  of  tin 
cans,  have  fallen  on  evil  times,  and  surely  it  is 
not  impossible  to  find  some  other  useful 
industry  to  which  they  might  now,  with  profit, 
be  taught  to  turn  their  hand.) 

5.  Regular  visitation  by  pupil  teachers, 
Children's  League  of  Pity  officers,  and  tactful 
Bible  readers  and  such  like.  (I  italicise  the 
word  tactful  because  the  Tinklers  are  not  over- 
religious,  and  a  prosy  Bible  reader  or  a  prosy 
parson  would  simply  serve  as  a  butt  for  the 
Tinklers'  ridicule,  and  make  religion  a  laughing- 
stock.) 


CHAPTER   IX 


"  Genls,  I'll  have  title  jin  (you  know)  that  when  you 
thai  is  inandy  (speak  to  me)  you  rakker  (talk  to)  a  reg'lar 
fly  old  beiver  (woman)." 


A  Tinkler  woman,  from  "The  Gypsies, ' 
by  C.  G.  Leland. 


"We  do  not  want  your  money,  sir,"  screamed  the 
woman  after  me  ;  "we  have  plenty  of  money.  Give  us 
God  !     Give  us  God  I  " 

"Yes,  your  haner,"  said  the  man;  "give  us  God  ! 
we  do  not  want  money." 

Irisli  Tinklers,  from  "  Wild  Wales," 
by  George  Borrow. 


A  Modern  Gvpsy  Folk-tale  Teller. 

'^>:  LD  grannie,  who  often  looks  in  to 
tell  me  a  Gypsy  folk-tale,  is  quite  a 
remarkable  woman.  Her  name,  she 
says,  with  a  vigorous  rounded  accent 
pleasant  to  hear,  is  Mary  MacMillan 
or  Cam'ell.  She  is  a  widow  of  some 
75  years  of  age — her  partner,  a  Crimean  veteran, 
having  died  about  a  year  ago. 

Politeness  is  grannie's  weakness.  "  I  humbly 
crave  yer  honour's  pardon,"  she  said,  curtseying 
low,  "  but  a  gentleman  was  kind  eneuch  to  say 
ye  had  been  tellin'  him  ye  hadna  seen  grannie 
for   some   time,    an'    had    been  askin'  for    her 


366  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

health,  an'  I  thccht  there  could  be  nae  harm  in 
askin'  for  the  kind  gentleman's  health,  seein'  he 
had  been  kind  eneuch  to  ask  for  mine.  I  hope 
ye're  weel,  sir  ?" 

That  is  how  she  accosted  me  during  a  recent 
visit.  Politeness  is,  however,  a  characteristic  of 
the  pure-bred  Tinkler,  even  though — as  the  late 
AJr  Groome  puts  it  about  his  Gypsy  friends  in 
///  Gypsy  Tents — they  may  have  "  a  sharp  eye 
for  a  little  gift,  a  trait  by  no  means  confined  to 
Gypsies,"  or  Tinklers  either.  Why,  politeness 
is  the  best  part  of  their  stock-in-trade.  How 
otherwise  could  they  vend  their  paltry  wares? 

Old  grannie  is  a  treat  to  listen  to,  and  is 
possessed  of  the  most  useful  gift  a  Tinkler  can 
possess — that  of  persuasive  eloquence.  Daily 
she  shoulders  her  rooskie  (hawker's  basket) 
and  goes  from  door  to  door  extolling  her  small 
wares,  for,  frail  though  she  be,  she  is  credited 
with  not  having  a  lazy  bone  in  her  body. 

Grannie  is  no  dissembler.  Ask  her  to  stop 
takmg'whisky,  and  straight  she'll  tell  you,  "  I'll 
no'  deny  that  I  like  a  cant  u  peeve  (glass  of 
whisky)  in  the  niort^en  (morning),  hut  ye 
wadna  tak'  it  frae  aul'  grannie,  whun  it  keeps 
the  verra  breath  o'  life  in  her  ?" 

A   model,    I   should  say,   at    circumvention ; 
deep  and  "  wide  !"     Vet  that,  too,  is  a  part  of    • 
her    equipment ;    and,    withal,    old    grannie    is 


A  Gypsy  Folk-tale  Telltr.  357 

honest,  for  where  is  the  Gypsy  who  cannot 
reconcile  honesty  with  hiikni  (deception  of  the 
gadgis  —  house-dwellers)  ?  Stress  of  circum- 
stances and  failing  health  had  compelled  her  to 


The  Gypsy  Folk-tale  Teller. 

Photo  ):>y  J.  P.  Millies. 

seek  the  shelter  of  a  common  lodging-house, 
and  the  other  day  she  told  me  she  had  handed 
her  landlady  6d — "  4d  to  pay  my  lodgings,  id 
for  a  wee  pickle  o'  tea,  ^d  for  some  sugar,  an' 
|d  for  a  wee  bit  o'   saip  to   wash   thae  dirty 


368  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

\feiiunels,^"  outstretching  her  hands,  "  an' I'm  in 
awin  her  a  ha'p'ny,  for  she  kindly  gied  me  a 
bake  ;  but  I'll  pay  her  back  her  ha'p'ny.  Puir 
aul'  grannie'll  ne'er  dee  owin'  onybody  a  ha'p'ny. 
Oh  ay — savin'  )er  presence,  kind  sir — she'll 
shurely  get  back  her  lousy  ha"p'ny." 

A  born  folk-tale  teller,  but  one  wants  to  hear 
and  see  her  tell  her  tales  fully  to  appreciate 
them.  The  grip  she  takes  of  her  words,  her 
intonation,  attitudes,  and  gestures,  all  make  for 
a  fuller  comprehension  and  enjoyment  of  the 
tale.  The  tales  she  tells  have  generally  fairy- 
like titles  such  as  "  The  King  of  the  Fairies," 
"  The  Steed  o'  Bells,"  "  The  Crystal  Palace," 
"  The  Enchanted  Man,"  "  The  Enchanted 
Castle,"  "  The  Bottle  o'  Water  frae  the  Worl's 
End,"  and  such  like.  Some  of  these  she  spins 
out  for  hours,  and  never  halts  for  a  word,  but 
space  only  permits  me  to  record  three  of  the 
tales  I  have  heard  her  tell. 

If,  as  Mr  David  MacRitchie  and  the  late  Mr 
C.  G.  Leland  aver,  folk-tales  serve  as  a  religion 
for  Tinklers  and  Gypsies,  then  should  we  not 
be  ashamed  of  ourselves  and  of  our  lack  of 
enthusiasm  over  The  Book  when  we  find  that  a 
poor  despised  Tinkler  woman  has  the  w(jrds 
upon  which  she  grounds  her  conviction  and 
hope  off  by  heart  ?  A  strange,  elusive  study 
these  Tinklers  and  Gypsies  afford.     'l"he  public 


A  Gy/'sy  Folk-tale  Tt//fr.  369 

see  most  of  the  bad,  rough  side  of  their  charac- 
ter, but  they  have  a  kindly  inner  nature,  and 
are  not  devoid  of  high  ideals  ;  and  a  high 
morality  is  quite^within  their  mental  purview,  as 
their  intimate  knowledge  of  folk-tales  proves. 

I  ventured  to  say  to  her  at  the  conclusion  of 
one  of  her  tales  :  "  Grannie,  I  like  to  hear  you 
telling  these  fine  old  stories,"  and  she  answered 
tenderly  : 

"  Do  you,  wean  ?  Weel,  I'm  aye  thinkin' 
an'  thinkin'  aboot  them  as  I  gang  alang,  an' 
as  lang  as  there's  breath  in  my  aul'  body  I'll 
gie  ye  a  ca'  to  crack  to  ye  aboot  them." 

Poor  old  grannie,  the  teller  of  wonderful  folk- 
tales !  "  Why  art  thou  not  more  appreciated 
and  better  cared  for  ?"  I  wondered  as  I  ventured 
to  put  her  in  a  position  of  being  able  to  pay  off 
that  "lousy  ha'p'ny." 

"  No,  no,  kind  gentleman,"  she  objected  ;  but 
her  protest  was  in  vain. 

"  Weel,  weel,"  she  assented,  "  I  hae  naethin' 
I  can  gi'e  ye  ;"  and  then  added  as  an  afterthought, 
"ye'll  no  be  angry  if  I  offer  ye  a  wee  pocket 
naipkin,  kind  sir,  wud  ye  ?" 

Who  could  have  refused  grannie's  thoughtful 
kindness  ?  and  as  she  shouldered  her  "  ?-ooskie  " 
lightened,  one  felt  glad  to  think  by  a  rare  "  wee 
pocket  naipkin,"  she  left  also  this  benediction 
behind  her,  "May  God  bless  you,  kind  gentle- 

24 


37°  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

man,  an'  mony  thenks,  \vi'  great  kindness." 
But  had  I  incurred  the  displeasure  of  this 
modern  "  Meg  MerriHes,"  her  parting  shot  in 
the  cant  language  used  by  the  Galloway  Tinklers 
would  likely  have  been,  "  May  the  been  gaugi 
sallach  ye  "  (May  God  curse  you). 


The  Old  Tinkler  Wife's  Folktales.* 


JoHx  THE  Fisherman. 

Well,  then,  John  and  Janet  were  man  and 
wife,  and  lived  for  a  long  considerable  time 
together,  far  langer  than  I'll  tell  you  or  you'll 
tell  me.  The  weather  came  on  very  stormy, 
very  coorse.  Old  John  went  down  with  his 
creel  every  day  to  the  shore.  He  carried  his 
creel  down  thinking  he  would  get  fish  to  carry 
home.  He  went  for  a  long,  long  time,  but  he 
could  get  no  fish.  The  weather  was  coorse  and 
stormy,  and  there  was  no  fish  to  be  got.  He 
said  one  night  to  old  Janet,  his  wife  : 

"  Our  fire's  done  and  our  meat's  done,  and 
how  are  we  going  to  live  ?" 

"  I  don't  know.  We'll  starve  now,  but  our 
neighbours  are  as  bad  as  ourselves.  They 
can't  help." 

'  See  "  Huuipty  and  the  King  of  the  Fairies,"  recorded  at 
pp.  21)8-301  of  the  former  edition  of  this  hook,  and  "  The  King  of 
the  Fairies,"  recorded  in  tlie  Galloiiiay  Gazette  of  14th  June,  1904, 
and  "  Tlie  Enchanted  Man"  and  "  Nan  Gordon,'"  to  he  recorded 
in  a  future  nuniljer  of  Tht  Gypiy  Lore  Journal. 


John  the  Fisherman.  371 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  I'm  for  doing,  Janet.  I'll 
lift  my  creel  again  in  the  morning,  and  go  down 
to  the  boat  and  try  my  luck  again,  and  do  you 
know  what  I'm  going  to  do,  wifie  ?" 

"  No,  John." 

"  Well,  Janet,  I'm  going  to  commit  suicide ; 
and,  Janet,  you'll  take  a  chair  and  put  it  below 
one  of  the  hooks  that  we  hang  the  meat  on  in 
the  winter,  and  you'll  put  a  rope  over  the  hook 
and  commit  suicide,  too,  and  never  die  of 
hunger.  If  I'm  not  home  at  five  o'clock  you'll 
know  that  I'm  not  coming  back." 

"  Weel,  John,  I'll  watch  :or  you  till  the  last 
minute,  and  if  I  don't  see  you  I'll  take  your 
advice.  I  couldn't  live  without  you.  Honestly 
I'll  do  what  you  tell  me." 

"  Honestly,  Janet,  I  believe  you.  We'll 
shake  hands.  We  shall  part  in  love  and  unity, 
auld  wife  and  husband,  maybe  to  meet  and 
maybe  never  again." 

"  Providence  go  with  you.  I  hope  that  my 
blessing  and  my  good  wishes  will  follow  you. 
We'll  just  trust  in  Providence." 

John  got  his  creel  on  his  back  and  went  off 
to  his  boat.  He  fished  and  fished  and  fished 
up  and  down  and  up  and  down,  but  could  get 
nothing. 

"  I'll  not  deceive  my  wife.  What  I  told  her 
I  would  do  I  will  do.     Where  will  I  get  a  deep 


372  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

enough  place  to  go  in  ?  Will  I  pray  before  I  go 
in  ?  Yes,  I'll  have  to  make  a  wee  prayer.  I'll 
just  walk  up  and  down  and  look  at  the  water." 

So  he  walked  up  and  down  by  his  boat  and 
by  his  creel,  and  was  just  going  to  make  the 
plunge  when  a  gentleman  came  up— a  very 
dressy  gentleman  : 

"  You're  looking  very  melancholy  to-day. 
What's  the  matter  with  you  ?" 

"  Oh,  sir,  I  needna  tell  you." 

"  Why  ?" 

"  You  could  do  nothing  for  me." 

"  Tell  me  your  complaint  and  perhaps  I  may 
relieve  you." 

"  \\'ell,  then,  Janet  and  I  have  been  such  a 
period  of  years  married,  and  I've  gone  out 
every  day  for  so  long  a  time,  and  I  can  get  no 
fish,  and  our  house  is  in  starvation,  and  I  told 
Janet  when  I  left  her  this  morning  that  she  was 
to  hang  herself  if  I  wasn't  home  at  five  o'clock, 
and  I  would  commit  suicide,  too.  I  would  go 
in  the  water." 

"  That  won't  do  at  all.  If  you'll  give  me  the 
gift  I'll  ask  of  you  I'll  make  you  the  richest  man 
in  the  whole  woild." 

"But  I  have  nothing.  I  tell  you  I'm  in 
starvation." 

"  Would  you  give  me  what  I  ask  of  you  ?" 

"Well,  sir,  when  are  you  going  to  tell  me  the 


John  the  Fishennan.  373 

request  you  want  of  me  ?  I  haven't  a  thing  in 
the  house  you  could  go  and  see,  but  if  you'll 
ask  it  in  decency  I'll  give  heed,  to  save  my  old 
wife  and  myself." 

"  Well,  all  I  ask  of  you  is  the  first-born  son 
your  wife  has." 

"  Man,  Janet  and  I  have  been  away  about 
I  no  years  married  and  we  never  had  one,  and 
you  know  perfectly  that  I'm  too  old  and  done." 

"  Will  you  promise  to  give  me  your  first-born 
son  at  the  age  of  18.  You'll  want  for  nothing. 
I'll  allow  you  servants  to  attend  Janet,  and  you 
men-servants  and  women-servants." 

"  I'll  do  that,"  quoth  he.  "  It's  easy  to  pro- 
mise that." 

"  Well,  John,  I've  got  all  I  request  of  you  at 
present,  but  remeaiber  your  son's  mine  at  the 
age  of  18." 

"  Honestly  I'll  give  you  that,  for  I'll  never 
have  one." 

"  Do  you  know  what  you're  to  do  now, 
John  ?" 

''  I  hope  you'll  give  me  the  riches  now,  sir." 

"  Get  your  fishing  lines.  Throw  them  into 
the  water  in  front  of  you." 

John  cast  the  lines  in  (imitating  throwing 
nets). 

"  Pull  them  out  now." 

John  gave  them  a  pull.       He  can  scarcely 


374  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

draw  them  in,  they  are  so  heavy  with  fish.  He 
put  the  fish  into  his  boat. 

"Throw  again,  John." 

If  the  first  catch  was  heavy,  this  is  far 
heavier.     He  can  scarcely  get  it  out. 

"  Cast  your  lines  again,  John." 

If  the  second  catch  was  heavy,  the  third 
was  much  more  so.  John  could  scarcely  get 
the  fish  out.  He  lay  down  and  sat  down  and 
pulled  and  pushed  and  pulled  and  pushed  till 
he  got  it  into  the  boat. 

"  \\'ell,  then,  John,  do  you  know  what  you 
are  going  to  do  now  with  these  fish  ?" 

"Sell  them,  Janet  and  I.  I'll  take  the  fish 
home.  Our  neighbours  are  in  as  great  starva- 
tion. Janet'U  be  for  giving  a  fish  to  this  one 
and  to  that  one." 

"  But  you're  not  to  let  her  give  the  fish  away 
till  she  sits  down,  takes  the  heads  off  them, 
cleans  them  and  guts  thjin." 

"  Well,  sir,  we  can  do  that,  but  fish  don't  sell 
well  wanting  heads  ;  still  I'm  very  much  obliged 
for  your  advice." 

Well,  then,  John  got  liis  creel  on  his  back 
and  started  for  home,  but  it  was  so  heavy  that 
his  knees  and  his  nose  nearly  met.  Janet  was 
putting  the  chair  underneath  the  hook  to 
commit  suicide,  when  she  looked  out  of  the 
window  and  saw  John  coming. 


Jdlin  the  Fisherman.  ^ilS 

"Oh,  there's  my  John,"  and  she  ran  to  meet 
him  "  What  a  load  of  fish,  John  !  My  word, 
but  .ve're  gentry  !" 

"  Ay,  and  the  boat's  loaded  full,  Janet.  Ye'll 
have  to  get  a  creel  as  well  as  me  and  carry  your 
loads  as  well,  wifie,  till  we  get  them  all  home." 

"  I'll  do  that,  John.  Surely  something  good's 
come  our  way  to-day." 

They  went  back  and  forward  to  and  from  the 
boat  until  it  was  empty.     Janet  said  : 

"  We'll  give  so  and  so  and  so  and  so,  our 
neighbours  in  starvation." 

"  Janet,  you  won't  give  a  fish  of  them  away, 
lassie.  A  gentleman  allowed  me  to  get  them. 
You'll  gut  them  along  with  me,  and  then  you 
can  give  them  to  whom  you  think  fit." 

"  Well,  John,  I'll  do  that,  boy  ;  I'll  do  it  to 
please  you.     "You're  a  very  good  old  man." 

"  I'm  very  proud  o'  you,  Janet,  that  you  were 
not  away  before  I  came  back." 

"  I  saw  you  coming,  John,  and  I  thought  I'd 
run  and  meet  you." 

They  sat  down  and  gut,  head,  and  clean 
the  fish,  and  nothing  came  out  of  the  fish  but 
gold  and  silver,  and  diamonds  and  silver  and 
precious  money. 

"  Oh,  John,  John,  we're  gentry  for  life.  You 
and  I  have  plenty  now.  We'll  not  see  our 
neighbciurs  hunger,  John." 


376  The  Tinkhr-Gypsies 

"Divide  your  fish  now,  Janet.  The  ger de- 
man  told  me  far  more,  but  I'm  not  going  to 
tell  you  what  he  said.  Ha,  ha,  ha  I"  (He  was 
laughing  at  what  the  gentleman  said  about  the 
baby,  and  him  being  so  long  married  and  never 
had  one.)  "  Ha,  ha,  Janet ;  but  I'll  no  tell  ye 
all  the  crack  I  got." 

"  Very  well,  John  ;  I'm  no  going  to  ask  you 
anything." 

She  gave  the  fish  away,  divided  and  divided 
and  divided  to  save  life. 

They  were  going  along  the  shore  to  the  boat, 
and  found  .a  beautiful  sununer  cottage,  with 
men  servants  and  women  servants,  but  John 
kept  his  boat  and  his  creel.  He  fetched  them 
and  laid  them  up  foment  the  house.  ^Vell, 
they  got  this  most  beautiful  cottage,  and  it  came 
about  like  the  old  gentleman  had  said.  They 
were  only  one  year  and  one  day  in  this  cottage 
when  Janet  had  a  fine  young  son.  Oh,  that  son 
was  the  nicest  and  finest  that  ever  was  !  W'lien 
he  grew  eld  enough  they  put  him  to  school. 
He  got  extra  education  more  than  plenty — 
everything  of  the  best.  John  drove  him  in  the 
machine  to  school,  and  drove  him  back  from 
school.  The  young  man  was  now  between  16 
and  17  years  old.  The  father  was  sitting  out- 
side one  day  looking  at  his  boat  and  his  old 
fishing  creel  when   ttie  old  man's  words  canie  to 


John  the  Fisherman.  377 

his  mind.  He  remembers  the  hunger  and  want 
of  that  day,  and  look  nt  the  state  he  is  in  now  ! 
'J'hat  was  a  year  and  a  day  before  his  son  was 
born.  The  father  thought  the  Hght  of  day  was 
too  much  to  shine  on  this  son.  ^\'ell,  he  thought 
of  the  gentleman's  words,  and  he  fell  into  a 
kind  of  doldrum,  and  John  walked  up  and  down 
and  back  and  forward  talking  to  no  individual. 
Young  John,  when  he  came  home  from  school, 
Avould  look  at  his  fiither  and  think  that  he 
wasn't  so  bright  and  cheery  as  he  used  to  be. 
Janet  one  day  said  to  their  son  : 

"  There  must  be  something  materially  wrong 
with  your  da.  Have  you  offended  him  in  any 
way,  for  your  da's  so  melancholy,  not  talking  to 
me  at  all.  From  the  time  you  go  to  school  he 
never  gives  me  any  talk.  He  just  walks  up  and 
walks  down,  and  never  speaks  to  me.'' 

"  No,  mother  ;  consciously  I  haven't  done 
anything  to  vex  him." 

"  We'll  ask  him  to-night  when  you  come 
houie  from  the  school  what's  wrong."  Well, 
night  comes  on,  and  the  son  comes  home 
from  school.  When  tea-time's  past,  John 
sits  down  in  his  old  chair  with  his  auld  wife 
gey  near  hand  him,  and  their  son  sitting  by 
the  fire. 

"  Wei!,  John,  I've  been  your  wife  for  a  long 
time,  and  I   uould  like  to  know   what's  wrong 


3/8  The  Tmkler-Gypsies. 

with  you.  Have  we  done  anything  to  vex  you — 
have  we  assaulted  (insulted)  you  in  any  way  ? 
What  makes  you  so  melancholy  in  my  com- 
pany ?" 

"  Well,  Janet,  I'll  tell  ye  what's  wrong.  Dinna 
vex  yersel',  wifie  ;  ye've  never  done  any  wrong 
to  me.  Ye've  aye  been  a  guid  wife.  I'll  tell  you 
what's  wrong.  Do  you  remember  the  time 
when  you  and  I  were  in  starvation?" 

"Yes,  well?" 

"  We  hadn't  that  boy  till  we  were  very  old. 
I  am  proud  of  my  son.  I'm  frightened  to  tell 
you,  but  I  must  tell  you.  The  day  that  I 
fetched  the  boat  of  fish  home,  Janet,  the  gentle- 
man said  that  the  first-born  son  we  had,  he  was- 
to  get  him  at  the  age  of  i8.  He's  17  past,  and^ 
Janet,  we'll  have  to  lose  our  boy." 

"  And  when  will  the  man  come  for  the  boy^ 
John  T 

"  I  don't  know." 

"Well,  father,"  said  the  son  after  he  had 
heard  the  story,  '"  I'm  going  to  take  my  bonnet 
off  and  make  my  obedience  to  you.  Mother,, 
give  me  that  table  and  my  religious  books." 

"  V^es,  dear  son." 

"  Mother,  hand  them  all  to  me.  Fetch  yon 
wee  round  table  and  la\  it  down  there." 

She  laid  the  table  down  and  all  his  good 
book=. 


John  the  Fishertnan.  379 

"  When  is  my  time  to  be,  father,  that  I  have 
to  go  with  this  gentleman  ?" 

"  So  and  so." 

"  I'll  not  go." 

"But,  son,  you'll  have  to  go." 

"  Well,  well,  father,  we'll  see  when  the  time 
comes." 

The  time  wears  up  and  wears  up.  The  ap- 
pointed day  comes  that  the  son  has  to  go  away. 

"  Aie  you  coming  to  convoy  me,  father  V 

"  I'm  coming  to  see  you  go  away,  my  son." 

''  But,  father,  you  won't  see  me  go  away.  I'm 
coming  home  to  my  mother  and  you,  along  witb 
you," 

"  Well,  son,  I  hope  your  words  will  be  true, 
but  I  am  frightened." 

Well,  away  father  and  son  went  this  morning, 
down  to  the  shore  to  meet  this  gentleman. 
The  son  took  the  small  table  with  him,  and  his- 
precious  good  books.  He  set  the  table  down 
on  the  shore  and  spread  out  his  books  on  the 
table.  He  went  back  and  fetched  two  chairs. 
He  took  a  stick  in  his  hand  and  went  round 
and  round  the  table  and  chairs — a  chair  for  his 
father  and  one  for  himself^and  drew  a  circle  on 
the  sands.     Very  good. 

"Sit  down,  now,  father,  and  take  your  Bible, 
and  I  have  mine,  and  we  have  always  our  trust 
here." 


380  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Father  and  son  rtad  and  read  the  Scripture. 

Up  comes  this  man,  dressed  as  he  was  before. 

"  I  have  come,"  he  says. 

"  What  have  you  come  for?"  says  the  young 
gentleman. 

"  I  bought  you.  You  are  my  property.  I 
paid  for  you  one  year  and  a  day  before  you 
were  either  gotten  or  born.'' 

"  \^ery  good,"  said  the  young  gentleman, 
^'you  bought  me.  Read  on  your  Bible,  father." 
He  looks  at  the  leaves  of  his  book  again.  He 
looks  up.  '"Begone,  Satan '"  he  says.  "You 
have  no  power  over  me  more  than  you  have 
over  any  other  young  man.    Begone  !'' 

Satan  rushed  into  the  sea  gnashing  his  teeth, 
wringing  his  hands,  tearing  his  hair,  and  fire 
blowing  out  of  his  mouth,  and  eye'^,  and  nostrils. 


'I'he  Enchanted  Castle. 

There  was  a  great  gentleman,  and  he  had 
lived  a  long  considerable  time  in  this  castle,  but 
he  had  left  it  owing  to  its  being  m  some  way 
disturbed.  He  got  a  castle  repaired  at  some 
distance  off  it,  and  went  to  live  there.  He 
would  give  any  amount  of  monev  to  any  indi- 
vidual who  would  stay  in  this  casllc  for  three 
nights.  There  was  plenty  waited  one  n'ght, 
but  couldn't  wait  the  second.     .\  poor  man,  a 


The  Ejwhanted  Castle.  381 

traveller,  heard  of  this  great  handsome  sum  of 
money.  He  thought  to  himself  that  it  would  be 
his  provided  he  could  come  to  the  castle  and 
stay  in  it  three  nights  his  lone.  He  got  plenty 
of  victuals,  fire,  light,  everything  he  liked, 
except  company. 

"I  shall,"  he  says  to  hmiself,  "  I  shall  take 
the  chance  and  see  if  I  can  earn  this  great  sum 
of  money."  He  went  and  told  the  gentleman 
that  he  would  be  thankful  to  go  to  the  castle. 
There  was  a  man  of  business  sent  with  him. 
Great  fires  were  put  on.  He  had  plenty  of 
victuals— everything  he  required.  Night  came 
on,  and  he  sat  by  the  fire.  He  was  disturbed 
by  a  noise. 

"  I'll  see  what  that  noise  is,''  he  said  to  him- 
self. He  rose  and  opened  the  door.  Well, 
then,  he  saw  a  lot  of  steps.  He  went  to  the 
bottom  of  the  steps,  but  saw  nothing. 

"  Tuts  !  it's  imagination."  He  turned  and 
came  up,  and  there  was  all  sorts  of  dancing  and 
music  in  the  kitchen,  but  he  could  see  nothing. 

"  It  must  be  imagination,"  he  said  to  himself. 
He  sat  down  again,  but  there  was  something 
annoying  him.  He  got  up,  and  a  man  came  to 
him  without  a  head.  The  old  man  looked  at 
him  and  said  : 

"  What  do  you  come  to  torment  me  for  ?  Go, 
Satan  !    Begone  by  the  name  of  the  Lord  !"    The 


382  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

headless  man  departed.  He  sat  down  again, 
and  was  reading  when  there  was  a  great  noise 
down  this  stair  again.  He  opened  the  door 
and  walked  with  a  light  in  his  hand.  He  could 
«ee  nothing.  He  gave  up.  When  he  was 
coming  up  the  stair  again  someone  blew  the 
light  out  in  his  hand.  He  moved  forward  to 
the  kitchen  fire.  He  turned  to  look  round  him, 
and  saw  a  woman  dressed  all  in  black.  He 
said  : 

"  What  shall  your  request  be  ?" 

"  1  was  killed  here,"  she  said,  "  for  the  sake 
of  my  money,  and  my  money  is  here,  and  as 
you  have  spoken  to  me  I  shall  tell  you  where 
you'll  find  it.  You'll  go  down  to  that  cellar 
and  lift  a  flag  at  the  back  of  the  door,  and 
you'll  find  a  crock.  That  is  where  my  money 
is  contained,  and  you  shall  get  it  for  speaking 
to  me.  I'll  bid  you  good-bye,  and  I'll  go  to 
rest.  Nothing  more  shall  disturb  this  castle." 
She  departed.     He  said  to  himself : 

"  I'll  go  down  and  take  a  light  and  see  if  it 
is  the  case.  It  must  be  imagination.  I'll  go 
and  make  myself  perfect." 

He  went  to  the  cellar  and  found  the  f!ag 
half-lifted.  He  lifted  the  flag  to  the  floor  and 
found  the  crock  with  a  wooden  lid  on  it.  He 
fetched  it  upstairs  and  laid  it  on  the  kitchen 
table.     This  was  the  second  night.     The  third 


The  Enchanted  Castle.  383 

•day  the  gentleman  came  to  him  and  asked 
him  : 

"  How  did  you  rest  last  night,  and  how  did 
you  get  on  ?     Did  anything  disturb  you  ?" 

"  Nothing  disturbed  me,"  he  said. 

"This  is  your  last  night.  You  have  been 
very  clever.  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  put  in 
this  night." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I'll  manage  to-night." 

Everything  was  renewed  for  his  comfort 
through  the  night.  He  walked  about  and  sat 
down,  but  heard  and  saw  nothing  till  next 
morning.  Then  a  wee  young  child,  a'  cled  in 
white,  came  to  him,  and  he  said  : 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  wee  baby,  where  do 
you  come  from,  and  what  do  you  want?" 

"  My  mamma  came  to  you  last  night  and 
told  you  where  her  gear  lay.  She  forgot  to  tell 
you  where  mine  lay.  You  lift  a  brick  off  the 
hob.  One  brick  you  draw  out  and  put  your 
hand  in  and  you  shall  get  my  fortune." 

"  You  wee  dear  lamb,  will  I  do  it  now  ?" 

"  Yes,  do  it  now." 

"Well,  good-bye,  wee  dear,  and  I  hope  you 
•will  rest." 

"  I'm  going  to  mamma.  I'll  find  good  rest 
now,"  and  he  went  away. 

The  man  drew  a  brick  out  and  put  his  hand 
in  at  the  side  of  the  fire  and  pulled  out  a  large 


384  The  Ti/ik/e/ -Gypsies. 

hook.  And  in  this  book  was  paper  money 
iincountalDle.  He  laid  it  on  the  table.  In  the 
morning  the  gentleman  came  across  from  the 
other  castle  and  opened  the  door  and  walked  in. 

"  How  did  30U  rest  last  night  ?  Did  any- 
thing disturb  you?  Did  you  hear  or  see  any- 
thing?" 

"  Well,  please  your  honour,  I  did  ;  but 
whether  I  should  tell  you  or  not,  1  do  not 
know." 

"  \\'hat  did  you  see  ?" 

"  The  first  night  I  saw  a  gentleman  wanting 
a  head.'" 

"  And  what  did  you  see  the  second  night?" 

"  A  handsome  lady,  dressed  all  in  black, 
with  gold  chains  and  bracelets  hanging  all 
round  her.  I  asked  her,  in  the  name  of  God, 
what  she  was  coming  to  me  for  ?  She  told  me  she 
was  killed  in  this  castle  for  her  riches,  and  she 
couldn't  get  rest  to  lie  in  the  grave  till  she  told 
some  one  where  this  money  was.  Well,  then, 
there  was  a  little  beautiful  wee  baby  dressed  all 
in  white.  It  ne\cr  spoke  till  I  spoke  to  it.  I 
said  : 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  wee  baby,  where  do 
you  come  from,  and  what  do  you  want?" 

It  said,  "  I  am  so  proud  that  you  spoke  to 
me.  You  had  my  mamma  last  night,  and  you 
spoke  with  strength  to  my  mamma.     She  told 


The  Enchanted  Castle. 


385 


you  where  her  vakie  lay,  and  my  mamma's  in 
rest.  But  my  mamma  didn't  tell  you  where  my 
fortune  lay.  As  you  have  spoken  to  me  I'll 
tell  you  :  You'll  draw  one  brick  out  of  the  side 
of  the  hobstone,  and  you'll  put  your  band  in 
and  you  shall  find  my  fortune  there.  Ta,  ta, 
I'm  going  to  rest,  to  my  mamma." 


25 


CHAPTER  X. 


(  Tune — "  Clout  the   Caudroii." ) 

"  My  bonny  lass,  I  work  in  brass, 

A  Tinkler  is  my  station  ; 
I've  travelled  round  all  Christian  ground, 

In  this  my  occupation  ; 
I've  ta'en  the  gold,  and  been  enrolled 

In  many  a  noble  squadron  : 
l)ut  vain  they  searched  when  off  I  march'd 

To  go  and  clout  the  caudron." 

From  Burns's    '.lolly  Beggars 


ROM  what  race  or  races  are  the 
Tinklers  descended  ?  That  is  a 
question  to  which,  in  the  light  of  the 
present  incomplete  state  of  informa- 
tion on  the  subject,  only  an  imper- 
fect and  conjectural  answer  can  be 
given.  A  great  deal  of  data  has  already  been 
amassed,  but  much  still  lies  awaiting  its  gather- 
ing, and  we  wish,  by  adding  our  humble  quota, 
to  strengthen  the  chain  of  evidence,  and  also 
by  arranging  and  focussing  such  evidence  as 
has  already  been  gathered,  to  help  forward 
the  solution  of  the  above  cjuery.  By-and-bye, 
when  completer  information  has  been  recorded 
regarding  the  various  gangs  of  Tinklers,  those 


W^^ 

■    ji^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^m 

^^^^^^^HH^H[ 

K,    *;„•;. 

^'''^%1^^  'a^SHV 

^^i 

'm^ 

■nbg^v     \^^B 

r^'^H 

■WmJ  ''k^m 

^^»fe-JhM>^v..  -iaBWy  ' '" 

^^^^^^^K  ^H 

^vJ^E 

^^^ft. '  '''^'^ifei 

19^      ^H 

h^^'^jnisR 

■ 

I^^M 

■■HKi« 

I'lioto  by 


Thns.  Feri-'uson. 


From  an  old  Painting  representing  Burns's 
"  Jolly  Beggars  " 


In  possession  of  Thomas  Ferguson.  Esii.,  Seiford,  Kilmarnock. 


388  The  Ti)ikl€7--Gypsies. 

competent  to  analyse  and  pass  judgment  upon 
such  information  will  probably  be  able  to  give 
an  authoritative  answer  to  the  problem. 

Mr  David  MacRitchie,  author  of  Ancient  and 
Moder7t  Britons,  has,  in  this  discussion  as  in 
many  others  of  a  similar  kind,  borne  the  brunt 
of  the  work  at  a  period  of  its  history  when 
information  was  scarce  and  more  widely  scattered. 
As  an  eminent  Antiquary  and  Gypsiologist,  he 
possesses  rare  qualities  for  the  conduct  of  such 
an  enquiry.  Of  those  who  incline  to  the  view 
that  there  were  Gypsies  in  Scotland  prior  to  the 
arrival,  about  the  year  1505,  of  the  wave  of 
Romani-speaking  Gypsies,  Mr  MacRitchie  (in 
his  Scottish  Gypsies  itnder  the  Stewarts),  like  a 
zealous  pioneer,  has  so  patiently  and  skilfully 
amassed  and  arranged  the  facts  upon  which  he 
bases  his  conclusions  that  the  task  of  others 
taking  part  in  the  discussion  must  always  be 
very  much  simplified. 

There  is  no  mistaking  the  Tinkler.  His  folk 
are  unmistakably  something  different  from 
the  ordinary  inhabitants  of  the  country.  We 
may  be  deceived  by  descriptions  we  read 
of  peoples  who  have  lived  and  ceased  to  be. 
Antiquaries  may  try  to  clothe  the  skeleton, 
and  may  even  succeed  tolerably  well,  but  we 
are  never  quite  sure  whether  or  not  the  descrip- 
tion   is   absolutely  truthful.     With  the  Tinkler 


Orv^in  of  Tink/er-Gypsies.  389 

race  we  have  at  least  the  advantage  of  studying 
their  appearance,  characteristics,  and  history 
from  the  live  models,  and  the  most  casual 
observer  cannot  fail  to  note  a  strangeness  and 
uncommonness  in  the  appearance  of  those 
so-called  "  common  "  Tinklers  : 

"  O  mark  them  well  when  next  the  group  you  see 
In  vacant  barn  or  resting  on  the  lea  ; 
They  are  the  remnants  of  a  race  of  old  ; 
Spare  not  the  trifle  for  your  fortune  told." 

But  Hogg  goes  on  to  say  that  the  Gypsies  were 
descended  from  the  Israelites — a  contention 
still  considered  highly  probable  by  many 
believers  in  the  testimony  of  traiition,  and 
the  Gyi'sies  themselves  have  a  tradition  that 
they  hail  from  Egypt,  but  one  which  has  not 
so  far  been  proved  to  be  founded  on  fact. 

Whence,  then,  arises  that  unmistakable 
strangenes-s  in  the  Tinklers'  appearance  1 

Habit  and  environment  have  undoubtedly 
played  their  part,  but  we  consider  that  the 
strangeness  in  their  appearance  arises  princi- 
pally from  a  two-fold  source,  namely,  from  the 
lineage  of  the  Tinkler  element  and  from  the 
lineage  of  the  Gypsy  element  in  the  composite 
breed  of  Tinkler-Gypsies  It  is  generally  con- 
ceded that  Romani-speaking  Gypsies  must  either 
have  originally  hailed  from  Hindustan,  or  at 
all  events  their  forebears  must  have  sojourned 


Origin  of  Tiiik/ef-Gvpsies.  391 

there  for  a  very  long  period  indeed.  Their 
appearance,  characteristics,  and  the  preponder- 
ance of  Hindustani  words  in  Romanes  conspire 
to  prove  that. 

Although  for. brevity's  sake  we  use  throughout 
this  book  the  word  "  Tinkler "  to  denote 
"Tinkler-Gypsy,"  in  discussing  this  question 
we  have  preferred  to  use  the  expression 
"  Tinkler-Gypsies  ''  in  place  of  the  generic  and 
loosely-applied  word  "  Gypsies."  The  use  of 
that  latter  word  has  probably  been  caused  by 
the  haziness  and  incompleteness  of  the  informa- 
tion hitheito  at  the  disposal  of  students  of  the 
subject,  but  such  use  is  undoubtedly  misleading. 
Petulengro  (Smith)  was  not  so  far  out  when  he 
said  there  isn't  "a  drop  of  real  Komani  blood 
in  the  whole  of  Engaland,"  for  it  is  perhaps 
impossible  to  find  a  pure-bred  Romani-speaking 
Gypsy  in  England.  But  there  are  certainly 
people  known  by  the  name  of  "  Gypsies." 
Gypsiologists  may  not  even  be  at  one  as  to 
whom  should  be  included  under  such  a  name. 
Simson,  the  author  of  the  excellent  History  of  the 
Scottish  Gypsies,  is  at  great  pains  in  marshalling 
his  facts  to  prove,  and  in  harping  upon,  his 
theory,  "  Once  a  Gypsy  always  a  Gypsy," 
no  matter  though  the  family  may  have  nine- 
tenths  Gorgio  (house-dweller)  blood  in  their 
veins    and    have    been    settled    in    houses    for 


Origin  of  Tinkler-Gypsies.  393 

many  generations.  But  be  the  prepotency 
of  transmission  ever  so  strong  in  the  Romani- 
speaking  Gypsy  race,  the  majority  of  Mr 
Simson's  readers  would  go  on  holding  to  the 
popular  notion  that  a  Gypsy  is  a  Gypsy  only  so 
long  as  he  continues — in  the  exercise  of  his  most 
distinctive  characteristic — to  roam  about  the 
country  and  live  in  tents  or  vans.  So  that  we 
must  be  careful  to  avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  this 
ambiguity  which  arises  through  the  various 
readers  holding  different  definitions  of  the  word 
Gypsy. 

Mr  MacRitchie,  on  the  other  hand,  in  his 
Ancient  and  Modern  Britons  and  Scottish  Gypsies 
under  the  Stetvarts,  while  he  seeks  to  prove  a 
little  more  proves  at  least,  we  think,  that  there 
were  in  Scotland,  prior  to  the  wave  of  Romani- 
speaking  Gypsies  of  1505,  so  called  Gypsies,  or, 
to  put  it  more  specifically,  Tinklers  having 
characteristics  similar  to  the  Romani-speaking 
Gypsies.  But  then  his  definition  of  the  word 
"  Gypsies "  is  so  elastic  as  to  admit  of  the 
proposition  that  Tinklers  are  Gypsies.  He  comes 
practically  to  the  same  conclusion  in  discussing 
the  question  as  to  the  date  of  the  arrival  of  the 
Romani-speaking  Gypsies  in  Europe.  "  In 
effect,"  says  Mr  MacRitchie,  "  the  inference  to 
be  drawn  from  all  these  statements  is  that  if  the 
Gypsies  did  not  enter  Western  Europe  until  the 


394  The  Tvikk/'-Gypsies. 

fifteenth  century  they  found  on  their  arrival 
there  that  the  ground  was  already  occupied  by 
a  caste  whose  cha^acteristic!^  were  those  of  the 
Gypsies  themselves."''*  It  has  been  shown  by 
other  writers  that  there  were  Tinklers  in  this 
country  prior  to  the  arrival  of  the  wave  of 
Romani-speaking  Gypsies  of  whom  Mr  Crofton, 
in  his  excellent  monograph  Engiisk  Gypsies 
under  the  Tudcrs,'''  shows  the  following,  quoted 
by  Pitcairn  from  the  accounts  of  the  Lord  High 
Treasurer  of  Scotland,  to  be  the  first  authentic- 
British  record  : 

"  1505,  April  22.  Item  to  the  Egyptianis  be 
the  Kingis  command,  vij.  lib." 

Mr  Crofton  also  says  : 

"It  is  at  present  by  no  means  certain  when 
the  Gypsies  made  their  first  appearance  in 
England.  According  to  the  views  of  Mr 
Kilgour,  as  expressed  in  several  letters  to  Notes 
and  Queries  (London  :  Fifth  Series,  vol.  iii.) 
in  1876,  Gypsies  have  been  in  these  islands 
from  prehistoric  ages.  His  chief  reasons  seem 
to  be  that  they  are  called  Tinklers  in  Scotland, 
and  Ipswich  used  to  be  spelled  Gippeswic.  He 
also  believes  that  Hungary  derives  its  name 
from  Zingari  I  Tinkler  can  be  traced  back  to 
about  the  year  1200.  Tinker  and  Tinkler  were 
not  uncommon  titles  at  that  time.  Between  the 
years    11 65    and    1214    James    'Tinkler'    held 


s     ? 


396  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

land  in  the  town  of  Perth  (Liber  Ecclesie  de  Scofi, 
Edinburgh,  1843);  ''"'  1265  Editha  le  '  Tyne- 
kere  '  h'ved  at  WaUingford,  in  Berkshire  (Hist. 
MSS.  Com.,  6th  report,  1878);  \n  1273  a 
'Tincker'  and  MVilliam  de  Tyneker'  hved  in 
Huntingdonshire  (Dnvers  Patronyin.  Brit., 
from  Hund ,  Rot.);  and  before  1294  Ralph 
Tincler  had  a  house  in  Morpeth,  in  Northum- 
berland (Hist.  MSS.  Com.,  6th  report,  1878). 
All  these  seem  to  have  had  fixed  abodes,  and 
not  to  have  been  of  the  same  itinerant  class 
with  which  we  now  associate  all  'I'inklers,  and 
which  used  to  require  the  epithet  '  wandering ' 
to  distinguish  them.  The  fact  is  the  prehistoric 
English  Gypsy  existence  is  very  soon  reached. 
All  is  surmise  beyond  the  year  1500,  though  it 
is  by  no  means  improbable  that  the  race  sent 
scouts  across  the  channel  from  France  even 
before  1400,  which  is  the  date  suggested  by  M. 
Paul  Bataillard  ( De  P Apparition  des  Bohe miens 
en  Eui'ope,  Paris,  1S44,  p.  53)." 

It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  Tinklers 
often — as  was  the  case  with  Billy  Marshall 
— possess  a  house  into  which  they  retire  for 
a  few  weeks  in  the  dead  of  winter,  and  that 
fact  may  readily  account  for  the  Tinklers 
referred  to  l»y  Mr  Crofton  having  fixed  ahodes. 
And  further,  Mr  Crofton  points  out  : — '" 

"All  (iyi)sies  may  be  pedlars,  braziers,  or 
Tinklers,  but  the  reverse  may  not  follow." 


Origin  of  Tin kler- Gypsies .  397 

Tinklers,  then,  it  has  been  proved,  existed  in 
this  country  prior  to  1505,  but  the  further  and 
more  difficult  problems  to  decide,  as  to  (i) 
whether  or  not  Tinklers  were  originally  a 
Romani-speaking  race,  or  (2)  whether  the 
Romani  words  in  Tinklers'  cant  were  introduced 
by  a  wave  of  Romani-speaking  Gypsies  of  1505 
or  by  an  anterior  wave,  still  await  to  be  solved. 

The  Tinklers,  like  the  Irish  Crinks,  are,  as 
Mr  Groome  puts  it,  "  but  half  and  halfs,  or 
rather  a  thimbleful  of  Romani  to  a  bucket  of 
Gorgio  blood."  ''  The  blood  of  this  country 
undoubtedly  bulks  largely  in  their  veins.  But 
whence  arises  that  so-called  Gorgio  (house- 
dweller)  element  in  the  Tinkler  ?  Tinklers, 
like  Gypsies  of  the  Romani-speaking  order,  go 
through  very  little  ceremony  in  entering  into 
marriage.  In  most  cases  they  merely  take  one 
another's  word  as  constituting  marriage.  They 
are,  however,  as  a  rule  like  the  Romanies  in 
preferring  to  marry  one  of  their  own  kind. 
They  seldom  marry  outsiders,  and  too  often 
marry  one  of  their  own  gang.  As  has  been 
observed  in  a  former  chapter,  marriage  with 
cousins  is  of  very  frequent  occurrence,  and  has 
much  to  do  with  the  deterioration  of  the  race. 
The  preponderance  of  the  so-called  Gorgio 
element  is  not  likely,  then,  to  have  come  through 
marriage  with  house-dwellers.     Upon  this  phase 


Orij^in  of  Tinkler-Gypsies.  399 

of  the  question  the  fact  that  Tinklers  had  a 
secret  language  of  their  own,  and  still  have  the 
same  in  a  more  or  less  decadent  state,  has,  as 
will  afterwards  be  shown,  an  important  bearing 
upon  the  question. 

We  see  the  process  of  fusion  between 
Romani-speaking  Gypsies  and  these  ancient 
cant-speaking  Tinklers  in  force  when  Johnnie 
Faw,  as  a  captain  of  a  gang  many  of  whose 
names  were  clearly  Romani-Gy[)sy  names,  peti- 
tioned the  King.  Mr  David  MacRitchie  has 
shown  in  his  Ancient  and  Modern  Britonsi^'^  that 
Faws — a  synonym  for  Tinklers — existed  in  this 
country  long  before  the  arrival  of  the  wave  of 
Romani-speaking  Gypsies  of  1505 — and  surely 
"Johnnie"  was  never  a  Gypsy  name  brought 
with  them  from  the  Continent  ?  Anthony 
Gagino,  or  Gavino,  the  first  Lord  of  Little 
Egypt  of  whom  we  read  (July,  1505)  in  the 
history  of  the  British  Isles,  may  or  may  not 
have  been  of  British  extraction,  but  there  can 
be  no  mistake  that  when  Johnnie  Faw  as  Lord 
and  Earl  of  Little  Egypt  succeeded  in  getting 
King  James  the  V.,  on  17th  February,  1540,  to 
befriend  Gypsies,  a  fusion  had  taken  place 
between  the  Romani-speaking  Gypsies  and  the 
Faw  or  Tinkler  caste. 

Mr  David  MacRitchie,  in  his  Scottish  Gypsies 
under  the  Steivarts^'"^  states  that  the  word  "  Faw  " 


4CC  The  Tinkle?-  Gypsies. 

means  "  paiti-coloured  "  (referring  to  the  colour 
of  an  ancient  race  in  the  same  wa}'  as  the  word 
"pict" — painted  people — does),  and  was  also 
applied  to  muggers,  Tinklers,  and  potters,  and 
suggests,  on  the  testimony  of  Harry  the  Minstrel, 
that  there  were  P'aws  in  the  Biggar  district 
during  the  13th  century. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Marshalls 
have  also  Gypsy  blood  in  their  veins.  The 
appearance  of  the  various  members  of  the 
family  prove  it,  and  the  presence  of  many 
Romani  words  in  their  cant  confirms  it.  Tra- 
dition relates  that  the  Marshalls  have  been 
Tinkle  IS  in  Galloway  "time  out  of  mind  ";*''and 
it  is  likely  that  there  were  Tinkler  Marshalls  in 
Galloway  in  1505. 

When  pressed  by  legal  persecution  most 
Gypsies  looked  out  for  new  names,  and  in 
cases  where  Romani-speaking  Gypsies  joined 
with  the  pre-existing  roving  bands  of  Tinkler 
Britons  they  would  naturally  assume  the  name 
of  the  caste  with  whom  they  threw  in  their  lot, 
and  thenceforth  the  Gypsies  with  real  Romani 
names  would  take  such  names  as  Faw,  Baillie, 
Gordon,  Marshall,  Blythe,  Macafie,  Newlands, 
Maxwell,  Yorstoun,  Graham,  MacMillan,  Ken- 
nedy, Stewart,  Scot,  Ruthven,  Young,  Wilson, 
MacDonald,  Macpherson,  Campbell,  Douglas, 
Watson,  Wilson,  M'Laren,  Baxter,  Neil,  White, 
Norris,  and  so  forth. 


Man  ha  lis'  Gy/^sv  Strain.  401 

Borrow  has  some  fanciful  names — not  often 
known  to  the  Gypsies  themselves — for  Gypsy 
tribes.**^  The  Marshalls  he  names  Bwigyorers — 
(cutters  of  bungs  or  corks) — but  these  must 
be  lost  arts  to  the  Scotch  tribe  of  Marshalls,  and 
he  name  is  no  longer  applicable  to  them  unless 
the  drawing  of  corks  could  be  said  to  entitle 
them  to  retain  it  ! 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note 
that  Mr  Groome  regards  some  of  the  Gypsy 
names  given  in  the  Privy  Seal  records  as 
fictitious  or  nicknames,  e.g.,  Tovvla  Bailyow — 
— tulla  baulo,  fat  pig  (but  c.f.  bailo,  pronounced 
baifyo,  Russian  Gypsy  for  "  white  ").-'- 

Not  only  are  the  Marshalls  possessed  of 
the  same  blood  as  Romani-speaking  Gypsies, 
but  it  is  probable  that  they  were  related  to  the 
Faas.  We  have  seen  from  a  former  chapter 
(p.  42)  that  Billy  Marshall  had  a  daughter 
Jean,  who  was  one  of  the  many  wives  of  Piper 
Allan.  In  the  Life  of  James  Allan,  already 
alluded  to,  the  following  account  of  the  nuptials 
is  given  : — -■' 

"Allan  next  arrived  at  Moffat,  where  he  met 
a  Gypsy  girl,  who  had  been  mending  china  and 
telling  fortunes  in  that  neighbourhood  for 
several  weeks.  His  manly  appearance,  added 
to  the  sweetness  of  his  melody,  soon  captivated 
the  heart  of  the  vagrant  brunette,  and  after  an 

2(5 


402 


The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 


acquaintance  of  a  few  hours  they  agreed  to  be 
united,  and  were  pledged  (the  Gypsy  mode  of 
marriage)  in  the  presence  of  a  gang  of  muggers, 
who   were   vendinar   their   earthenware    in    the 


Piper  Allan. 

iThe  Pipes  live  now  in  the  possession  of  !\[r  John  I.illey, 
I);irinth  Terraie,  Tyne  Dock,  South  Shiel  Is.) 

same  place.  Several  days  were  spent  in  merri- 
ment amongst  the  Faa  gatig  on  account  of  the 
nuptials." 

But  it  would  appear  from  the  following 
account  that  the  charms  of  the  vagrant  brunette 
soon   ceased   to  fascinate    Allan,  and    he    out- 


Marshalls  related  to  the  Fans.         403 

gypsied  his  Gypsy  consort  by   robbing    her  of 
several  pounds  and  then  deserting  : 

"  Allan  now  determined  to  break  his  connec- 
tion with  this  gang,  and  although  he  \vas  amply 
supplied  with  cash,  having  preserved  most  of 
what  he  had  brought  from  Annan,  yet  knowing 
that  his  wife  had  several  pounds  in  her  posses- 
sion, his  covetous  disposition  prevailed  over 
better  feeling,  and  he  hastened  back  to  where 
he  had  left  her,  contrived  to  steal  her  pockets 
during  the  night  while  she  slept,  and  took  his 
departure  for  Edinburgh  in  a  bleak  winter  night 
through  a  trackless  country  and  an  unknown 
path  ;  impressed  at  the  same  time  with  a  dread 
of  encountering  any  of  Will  Marshall's  strollers. 
During  his  dreary  walk  he  took  a  retrospect  of 
his  former  misspent  life,  and  such  is  human 
inconsistency  after  the  commission  of  a  very 
mean  and  unfeeling  action,  he  made  a  solemn 
vow  to  reform,  provided  he  ever  reached  a 
place  of  security.  It  is  not,  therefore,  wonder- 
ful that  on  drawing  near  to  Edinburgh  his 
evil  propensities  began  to  return  and  gather 
strength." 

To  complete  the  chain  of  evidence  to  show 
that  the  Marshalls  are  probably  related  to  the 
Faas  let  us  turn  to  George  Borrow's  description 
of  his  visit  to  Queen  Esther  Blythe  or  Faa  C^ 

"  I  asked  her  if  she  had  not  seen  some  queer 


404  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

folks  at  Yetholm  in  her  grandfather's  time. 
'  Dosta,  dosta,'  said  she,  '  plenty,  plenty  of  queer 
folk  I  saw  at  Yetholm  in  my  grandfather's 
time,    and    not   the   least    queer  is   he   who   is 


Esther  Faa  Blythe,  late  Queen  of  the 
Scotch  Gypsies. 

il!y  kiml  iicniiissioii  of  The  Century  C'o.,  rninn  ISiiuare,  New  York.) 

asking  nic  questions.'  '  Did  you  ever  see  Piper 
Allan  ?'  I  said ;  '  he  was  a  great  friend  of  your 
grandfather's.'  '  I  never  saw  him,'  she  replied  ; 
'but  I  have  often  heard  of  him.  He  married 
one  of  our  people.^  'He  did  so,'  said  I,  'and 
the  marriage  feast  was  held  on  the  green  just 


Tinklers  rehiied  to  Broken  Clans.      405 

behind  us.  He  got  a  good  clever  wife,  and  she 
got  a  bad,  rascally  husband.  One  night,  after 
taking  an  affectionate  farewell  of  her,  he  left  her 
on  an  expedition,  with  plenty  of  money  in  his 
pocket,  which  he  had  obtained  from  her  and 
which  she  had  procured  by  her  dexterity.  After 
going  about  four  miles  he  bethought  himself 
that  she  had  still  money,  and  returning  crept  up 
into  the  room  in  which  she  lay  asleep  and  stole 
her  pocket,  in  which  were  eight  guineas ;  then 
slunk  away  and  never  returned,  leaving  her  in 
poverty,  from  which  she  never  recovered.' " 

Probably,  therefore,  one  of  Billy's  many  wives 
was  a  Faa. 

Mr  MacRitchie,  in  his  Ancient  and  Modern 
Britons,  shows  that  the  ancient  races  of  Britons 
were  like  to  Romanies,  and  that  many  of  the 
foregoing  Tinkler  names  are  those  of  broken 
clans. 

There  is  a  tradition  about  the  waning  of  the 
power  of  the  House  of  Douglas,  once  the  most 
powerful  in  Scotland,  which  is  often  cited  as 
the  first  reference  to  Ciypsies  in  the  history  of 
Scotland.  Crawfurd  states  that,  after  having  been 
forfeited  in  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  :-'' 

"  The  Barony  of  Bombie  was  again  received 
by  the  MacClellans  after  this  manner  :  In  the 
same  reign  (that  of  James  the  Second  of  Scot- 
land), says  an  author  of  no   small  credit   (Sir 


4o6  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

George  Mackenzie  in  his  Baronage  MS.),  it 
happened  that  a  company  of  Saracens  or  Gypsies 
from  Ireland  infested  the  country  of  Galloway, 
whereupon  the  King  emitted  a  Proclamation 
bearing  '  Tkaf  w/ioever  should  disperse  them,  and 
bring  in  the  Captain  dead  or  alive,  should  have 
the  Barony  of  Bombie  for  his  reward!  So  it 
chanced  that  a  brave  young  gentleman,  the 
Laird  of  Bombie's  son,  fortuned  to  kill  the 
person  for  which  the  reward  was  offered,  and 
he  brought  his  head  on  the  point  of  his  sword 
to  the  King,  and  thereupon  he  was  immediately 
seized  (vested)  in  the  Barony  of  Bombie;  to 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  that  brave  and  re- 
markable action  he  took  for  his  crest  a  more's 
head  on  the  point  of  a  sword,  and  think  on 
for  his  motto." 

In  Sir  George  Mackenzie's  account,  in  the 
Science  of  Herauldry,^*'  an  older  authority  ( 1680), 
the  word  Gypsy  is  not  employed,  but  he  adds 
"to  the  killer  of  whom  (the  more — the  captain 
of  the  gang)  the  King  promised  the  forfeiture  of 
Bombie,  and  thereupon  was  restored  to  his 
father's  lands  as  his  evidents  yet  testifie."  A 
diligent  search  has  been  made — through  the 
Lyon  King  of  Arms,  Captain  Hope,  and  the 
present  descendants  of  the  MacClellans — but 
no  such  "evidents"  can  be  discovered,  and  so 
we  must  trust  to  the  accuracy  of  tradition. 


1  he  Black  More  Tradilioii.  407 

The  late  Mr  MacClellan,  London,  who  was 
the  authority  upon  the  history  of  the  Mac- 
Clellans,  was  also  a  firm  believer  in  the 
authenticity  of  the  trcidition.  His  son,  Mr 
G.  P.  MacClellan,  Baragali,  Murree  Hills,  Pun- 
jaub,  says  that  his  father  gives  the  date  of  the 
foileiture  as  1452,  and  of  the  reinstatement  as 
1455,  ^^<^  adds  :"' 

"  You  will  note  that  both  dates  are  given 
straight  out ;  I  lay  stress  on  this  point,  as  in 
several  places  where  he  was  not  absolutely 
certain  of  the  dates  they  are  left  blank,  and 
when  making  any  statement  of  the  truth  of 
which  he  is  in  any  doubt  he  invariably  lets  the 
reader  see  that  that  is  the  case  ;  in  this  story  he 
does  not  do  so,  and  I  [personally  am  therefore 
sure  that  he  had  good  grounds  for  his  state- 
ments." 

Mr  MacRitchie  supplies  the  key  to  explain 
the  tradition.*''  The  Black  Douglas  had  caused 
a  ]MacClellan  to  be  hanged  by  a  rope  from  a 
projecting  stone  in  the  Castle  (Threave)  wall, 
yet  to  be  seen,  and  took  his  dinner  calmly 
while  his  hangmen  were  doing  so.  The  Black 
Douglas  had  been  making  desperate  attempts 
to  assert  supremacy  over  iving  James,  and  Mr 
MacRitchie  points  out  that  it  would  be  the 
Black  Douglases,  and  not  the  King  whom  the 
MacClellans    had    invariably     befriended,    who 


4o8  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

had  wrested  from  the  MacClellans  the  lands  of 
Bombie  and  declared  them  to  be  forfeited. 

Two  years  after  the  death  of  the  cruel  Earl, 
his  brother,  the  last  Lord,  was  confronting  the 
army  of  King  James  in  the  open  field.  Douglas, 
it  appears,  was  deserted  by  his  vassal  lords  and 
their  forces  and  fled  into  Annandale,  where  he 
lurked  till  the  following  spring,  1455,  and  after- 
wards escaped  into  England,  from  whence  he 
made  several  raids  into  (ialloway,  and  did  not 
die  until  3^  years  after  the  MacClellan's  sword 
had  severed  the  more's  head  in  Galloway. 

It  could  not,  therefore,  Mr  MacRitchie 
points  out,  have  been  the  nominal  head  of  the 
clan  whom  the  young  MacClellan  killed.  Mr 
MacRitchie  concludes  that  "The  leaders  of 
the  Black  Douglases,  when  finally  brought  to 
bay,  were  the  chiefs  brothers — the  Earls  of 
Moray  and  of  Ormond.  Thus  the  Gypsy  or 
Moor  of  the  MacClellan  story  was  in  all  proba- 
bility one  of  these.  It  may  be  that  he  was  the 
Earl  of  Moray,  who  was  killed  at  the  crushing 
defeat  of  Arkinholme  or  Langholm — '  durked  ' 
in  Annandale,  as  the  local  tradition  has  it.  But 
it  is  much  more  likely  that  he  was  the  third 
brother,  Hugh,  Earl  of  Ormond,  who  is  not 
said  to  have  been  slain  c)n  the  field  of  liattle  as 
was  Moray,  but  to  have  been  taken  prisoner  and 
afterwards  beheaded." 


The  Black  More  Tradition. 


409 


Doubtless  the  leader  had  retired  with  a 
following  of  irreconcilable  Douglases,  and 
amongst  these  we  may  not  unreasonably  assume 
were  at  least  Tinkler  Douglases,  if  not  Gypsies 
as  the  tradition  asserts. 

Tradition,  then,  in  this  case,  as  in  so  many 


Site  of  The  Blackmorrow  Well,  near  Kirkcudbright. 

Photo  I'J- A.  M't'ormiok. 

others,  does  not  seem  to  be  so  far  out.  The 
"  more  "  would  be  a  Tinkler — probably  either 
one  of  the  Black  Douglas  race  of  Tinklers,  or,  as 
tradition  suggests,  a  man  named  Black  Morrow, 
of  Irish  Tinkler  descent,  who  was  first  drugged 
and  then  killed  at  the  spot  still  known  as 
"  The   Blackmorrow  ^^'ell."       'J'radition   is  sub- 


4IO  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

stantially  correct,  and  if  the  word  Tinkler  had 
been  used  in  place  of  the  word  Gypsy,  the  tradi- 
tion might  be  accepted  as  quite  consistent  with 
present-day  information.  Tinklers  may  be 
regarded  as  a  kind  of  Gypsies,  but  they  have 
never  been  proved  to  be  de  facto  Romani- 
speaking  Gypsies. 

What  could  be  more  natural  than  that  the 
Douglases  should,  in  the  hour  of  defeat,  come 
lurking  into  the  neighbourhood  of  their  ancient 
stronghold  ?  These  various  castes  would  ap- 
pear, then,  to  have  their  origin  partly  in  special 
Tinkler  castes  of  ancient  clans,  and  partly,  but 
we  think  to  a  small  extent  only,  in  irreconcilable 
broken  men  of  ancient  clans.  These  irreconcil- 
ables  would,  for  protection  and  concealment, 
join  in  with  these  wandering  Tinklers  or  Tink- 
ler-Gypsies, who,  probably,  vassal-like,  also  bore 
clan  names,  and  in  this  way  tlie  Tuiklers  or 
Tinkler-Gyps'es  may  in  some  few  cases  be 
actually  related  by  comparatively  recent  alli- 
ances to  some  of  the  chief  families  in  the 
country. 

In  the  same  way  if  we  look  at  the  Tinklers 
of  Ireland  we  will  find  that  they  go  under  such 
names  as  Fury,  Somers,  Reilly,  M'Donald, 
Casey,  Gorman,  Hind-;,  Martin,  Noon,  Joyce, 
Tocher,  Mayb.irry,  Fennau^hty,  .M'Morron, 
Royans,  Donnaghue,  Murray,  Hunter,  and 
so  on. 


MarshaUs  probably  of  Piclish  Descent.   4  (  r 

These  names  were  all  given  by  an  Irish 
Tinkler,  and  he  mentioned  that  Smith  was  a 
recent  importation  of  English  Gypsies.  Doubt- 
less the  Tinklers  of  England  acquired  their 
names  in  a  similar  manner.  Until  quite  recently 
many  of  the  Tinklers  in  Scotland  gave  them- 
selves out  as  being  connected  with  some  of  the 
old  clans.  With  some  it  might  have  been  an 
illegitimate  connection,  with  others  it  might 
have  been  that  founded  upon  similarity  of  race. 
As  may  be  gathered  from  what  has  already 
been  said,  the  Douglas  Tinklers  are  probably 
partly  descended  from  the  broken  men  of  the 
Black  Douglas  race  and  partly  from  a  caste  (of 
metal  workers)  thereof  known  as  Tinklers. 
Similarly  with  the  Marshalls.  The  name  is 
certainly  not  Pictish,  but  might  have  been 
acquired  subsequently.  That  the  Picts  were 
finally  overthrown  in  Galloway,  and  at  the  forti- 
fied promontory  of  the  Mull  of  Galloway,  tends 
to  confirm  the  tradition  about  the  Mai-shalls 
being  descended  from  the  Picts.  Has  history, 
however,  ever  recorded  a  case  where  a  race  was 
extinguished  to  a  man  by  being  defeated  in 
battle  ?  Many  Picts  would  be  absent  from  that 
battle,  and  many  who  were  present  would 
escape.  Many  would  also — as  we  hear  of  going 
on  at  present  in  the  case  of  the  conquered 
Boers — marry  into  the  conquering  race.      Mr 


412  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

MacRitchie  again  comes  to  the  rescue  with  a 
valuable  suggestion  by  pointing  out  that  the 
Picts  of  Galloway  were  relentless  foes  of  Bruce  ; 
that  John  Mareschal  (1346-7)  was  the  first  to 
use  the  name  Marshall  as  a  surname,  and  that 
he  too  was  throughout  one  of  Bruce's  most 
consistent  enemies.'*"  In  that  way  Mr  Mac- 
Ritchie  shows  that  it  is  highly  probable  that 
Marshall  became  the.  surname  of  a  Pict. 

Marshalls  are  probably  descended  from  John 
le  Mareschal  de  Toskerton,  who  in  the  year 
1296  swore  fealty  to  Edward  I. 

Assuming  that  a  number  of  the  Picts  did 
escape,  it  would  be  quite  natural  that  they 
should  be  found  where  they  were  finally  over- 
thrown— in  along  the  peninsula  of  which  the 
Mull  of  Galloway  is  the  terminus.  Toskerton 
is  situated  in  that  peninsula  in  the  parish  of 
Stoneykirk. 

A  Pict  may  liave  distinguished  himself  and 
been  honoured  by  having  the  title  of  "  Marshal  " 
conferred  on  him,  and  afterwards  continued  to 
use  Marshall  as  his  surname  ;  or  the  Picts  may 
have  for  a  generation  or  two  held  themselves 
aloof  and  refused  Icj  intermair}-  with  their 
conquerors,  but  eventually  as  the  subject  race 
they  would  have  to  take  shelter  as  vassals  under 
the  conquerors.  It  was  quite  usual  for  the 
vassals  to  take  the  name  of  their  overlord,  and 


Kennedies  are  Tinkler- Scot-Gypsies.     413 

so  a  Pictish  name  may  have  had  to  give  place 
to  the  name  Marshall,  or  that  result  may  have 
been  achieved  by  the  marriage  of  a  Pictess  with 
a  Marshall,  the  bridegroom  being  probably  a 
Scot  who,  or  an  ancestor  of  whom,  had  distin- 
guished himself  and  had  been  honoured  by 
being  made  a  "  Marshal." 

The  name  Marshall  may,  then,  have  been 
acquired  directly  or  indirectly  by  their  Pictish 
ancestors. 

So,  too,  with  that  other  Tinkler  tribe,  the 
Kennedies,  now,  alas  !  extinct  in  Galloway.  Mr 
MacRitchie  informs  us  that  :'•"' 

The  most  notable  of  all  those  who  bore  the 
appellation  of  Kenneth,  Kynadius,  Kinat,  or 
Cinead  was  assuredly  the  son  of  Alpin,  who 
"was  the  first  King  of  the  Scots  who  acquired 
the  monarchy  of  the  whole  of  Alban,  and  ruled 
in  it  over  the  Scots."  This  was  in  the  year 
844,  "the  twelfth  year  of  Kenneth's  reign,  and 
the  Chronicles  of  Huntingdon  tells  us  that  '  in 
his  twelfth  year  Kenneth  encountered  the  Picts 
seven  times  in  one  day,  and  having  destroyed 
many  confirmed  the  kingdom  to  himself.'" 
Thus  by  the  year  844  "the  blackherds  of  Scots 
and  Picts,  somewhat  different  in  manners,  but 
all  alike  thirsting  for  blood,"  had  completely 
fallen  out  amongst  themselves,  and  the  former 
.had  conquered  the  latter. 


4^4  ^li<^  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

A  worthy  successor  to  that  fierce  Kennedy 
who  encountered  the  Picts  seven  tmies  in  one 
day  and  overcame  them  may  be  found  in  the 
half  Tinkler -Scot  half  Romany -Gypsy  who 
acquitted  himself  so  courageously  at  the 
battle  of  Hawick  Brig. 

From  the  gruesome  and  graphic  account  of  it 
given  in  Simson's  History,^'  it  would  appear  that 
in  the  early  stages  of  the  battle  the  Kennedies 
and  the  Ruthvens,  who  were  allied  on  the  one 
side,  suffered  badly  at  the  hands  of  the  Taits 
and  Gordon*;,  the  allies  on  the  other.  The 
fight  on  that  occasion  must  have  been  one  of 
brutal  ferocity — the  women  as  well  as  the  men 
sustaining  terrible  wounds.  The  courageous 
old  Andrew,  with  his  bleeding  myrmidons  in 
the  rear,  holding  the  bridge  against  the  infu- 
riated Taits  and  Gordons,  affords  a  splendid 
picture  of  spirited  action — still  awaiting  its 
painter !  Alexander  Kennedy's  part  in  the 
fray  is  thus  graphically  described  : 

"  Having  now  all  the  Taits,  young  and  old, 
male  and  female,  to  contend  with,  Kennedy, 
like  an  experienced  warrior,  took  advantage  of 
the  local  situation  of  the  place.  Posting  him- 
self on  the  narrow  bridge  of  Hawick,  he  de- 
fended himself  in  the  defile,  with  his  bludgeon, 
against  the  whole  of  his  infuriated  enemies. 
His  handsome  person,  his  undaunted  bravery, 


Tlie  Battle  of  Haivick  Brig.  415 

his  extraordinary  dexterity  in  handling  his 
weapon,  and  his  desperate  situation  (for  it  was 
evident  to  all  that  the  Taits  thirsted  for  his 
blood,  and  were  determined  to  despatch  him  on 
the  spot),  excited  a  general  and  lively  interest  in 
his  favour  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  town, 
who  were  present  and  had  witnessed  the  con- 
flict with  amazement  and  horror.  In  one  dash 
to  the  front,  and  with  one  powerful  sweep  of  his 
cudgel,  he  disarmed  two  of  the  Taits,  and 
cutting  a  third  to  the  skull,  felled  him  to  the 
ground.  He  sometimes  daringly  advanced 
upon  his  assailant  and  drove  the  whole  band 
before  him  pell-mell.  When  he  broke  one 
cudgel  on  his  enemies  by  his  powerful  arm,  the 
townspeople  were  ready  to  hand  him  another. 
Still  the  vindictive  Taits  rallied  and  renewed  the 
charge  with  unabated  vigour :  and  everyone 
present  expected  that  Kennedy  would  fall  a 
sacrifice  to  their  desperate  fury.  A  party  of 
messengers  and  constables  at  last  arrived  to  his 
relief,  when  the  Taits  were  all  apprehended  and 
imprisoned ;  but,  as  none  of  the  Gypsies  were 
actually  slain  in  the  fray,  they  were  soon  set 
at  liberty." 

The  battle  was  renewed  at  Eskdale  Moor, 
when  the  Taits  and  Gordons  appear  to  have 
been  "  completely  routed  and  driven  from  the 
district  in  which  they  had  attempted  to  travel 
by  force." 


41 6  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

The  Tinklers,  as  we  have  remarked,  seldom 
marry  out  of  their  own  caste,  and  so  amongst 
Tinklers  we  are  apt  to  find  purer  blood  of  the 
ancient  tribes  than  amongst  those  who,  with 
blood  mixed  by  intermarriage,  are  entitled  to 
call  themselves  the  titular,  though  nominal, 
heads  and  chief  families  of  these  ancient  tribes. 


Kirk  Yetholm,  Headquarters  of  the 
Scotch  Gypsies. 

In  a  remarkable  letter  (juoted  in  the    Times 
Herbert  Spencer  is  said  to  have  addressed  the 
following  advice  to  liaron  Kaneko  in  reply  to  a 
question      respecting      the     intermarriage      of 
foreigners  and  Japanese  : 

"  To  your  remaining  question  respecting  the 
intermarriage  of  foreigners  and  Japanese,  which 
vou  say  is  '  now  very  much  agitated  among  our 
scholars  and  politicians,'  and  which  you  say  is 


Mixed  Racial  Characteristics.  417 

■*  one  of  the  most  difficult  problems,'  my  reply  is 
that,  as  rationally  answered,  there  is  no  difficulty 
at  all.  It  should  be  positively  forbidden.  It 
is  not  at  root  a  question  of  social  philosophy.  It 
is  at  root  a  question  of  biology.  There  is 
abundant  proof,  alike  furnished  by  intermarriage 
of  human  races  and  by  the  interbreeding  of 
animals,  that  when  varieties  mingle  beyond  a 
certain  slight  degree  tiie  ?-esult  is  inevitably  a  bad 
one  in  the  long  run." 

Is  not  that  practically  the  result  which 
followed  the  intermarriage  of  Romani-speaking 
Gypsies  and  Tinklers  ?  At  first  there  were  as 
offspring  some  splendid  physical  types  with  wild 
and  mixed  racial  characteristics,  but  the  type 
has  steadily  deteriorated.  One  of  such  early 
types  was  Matthew  Baillie,"-  who  would  steal  a 
horse  from  under  the  owner  if  he  liked,  but 
always  left  the  saddle  and  bridle — "A  thorough 
gentleman  in  his  way,  and  six  feet  four  in 
stature." 

Another  was  James  Macpherson,*'  the  ancient 
freebooter  and  musician,  the  offspring  of  a 
beautiful  Gypsy  and  a  Highland  gentleman, 
who  grew  up  in  strength,  stature,  and  beauty 
seldom  equalled.  Macpherson  is  said  to  have 
been  executed,  and  when  about  to  be  hanged 
he  displayed  both  supreme  contempt  for  death 
and  nobility  of  nature.     It  is  said   that   when 

27 


Con.  Cil.sun,  CnMstlvaii) 


Charles  Faa  Blythe,  late  King  of  the 
Scotch  Gypsies 


Early  Scotch  Gypsy  Types.  419 

standing  at  the  foot  of  the  fatal  tree  he  played 
on  his  violin  some  of  his  favourite  tunes,  and 
then  turning  to  the  crowd  he  enquired  if  he  had 
any  friend  to  whom  a  last  gift  of  his  instrument 
would  be  acceptable.  As  no  friend  came 
forward,  he  broke  the  violin  over  his  knee  and 
threw  away  the  fragments  : 

"  Sae  rantonly,  sae  wantonly, 
Sae  daunlingly  gaed  he  ; 
He  played  a  spring  and  danced  it  round 
Below  the  gallows  tree." 

The  courageous  Alexander  Kennedy,  above 
alluded  to  as  the  hero  of  the  bloody  battle  of 
Hawick  Brig,  and  Billy  Marshall  himself,  are 
other  splendid  types  of  the  offspring  of  such 
early  Tinkler-Gypsy  intermarriage.  On  the 
female  side  similar  splendid  types^,  such  as 
"  The  Duchess  Jean "  and  Madge  Gordon,^* 
resulted.  Madge  Gordon,  who  was,  in  her  day^ 
"accounted  Queen  of  the  Yetholm  clans,"  was 
"  a  grand-daughter  of  the  celebrated  Jean  Gor- 
don," and  was  said  to  have  much  resembled 
her  in  appearance.  "  Madge  Gordon,"  con- 
tinues a  writer  in  BlackivoocTs  Magazine^  was 
descended  from  the  Faas  by  the  mother's  side, 
and  was  married  to  a  Young.  She  was  rather  a 
remarkable  personage,  of  a  very  commanding 
presence  and  high  stature,  being  nearly  six  feet 
high.     She  had  a  large  aquiline  nose,  penetrat- 


420  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

ing  eyes  (even  in  her  old  age),  bushy  hair  that 
hung  around  her  shoulders  from  beneath  a 
Gypsy  bonnet  of  straw,  a  short  cloak  of  a  pecu- 
liar fashion,  and  a  long  staff  as  nearly  as  tall  as 
herself.  ...  If  Jean  Gordon  was  the  pro- 
totype of  the  character  of  Meg  Merrilies,  I 
imagine  Madge  must  have  sat  to  the  unknown 
author  as  the  representative  of  her  person."  To 
such  splendid  female  types  Leyden's  lines  could 
more  fittingly  be  applied  than  to  the  Tinkler 
women  of  the  present  day  : ''' 

"  While  scarce  the  cloak  of  tawdry  red  conceals 
The  fine  turned  limbs  that  every  breeze  reveals, 
Her  bright,  black  eyes  through  silver  lashes  shine, 
Around  her  neck  the  raven  tresses  twine." 

Yea,  the  types  have  steadily  degenerated 
since  the  days  of  such  fine  Gypsies  as  "The 
Duchess  Jean,"  Madge  Gordon,  Matthew  Baillie, 
Billy  Marshall,  Alexander  Kennedy,  and  James 
Macpherson. 

In  those  Tinkler  battles  we  may  see  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  old  tribal  warfare  that  raged 
throughout  Scotland,  and  which  to  this  day  the 
various  Tinkler  tribes  still  perpetuate,  though 
in  a  milder  way.  The  contention  that  the 
Tinkler  element  in  the  Tinkler  appertains  to  a 
descent  from  the  ancient  Scotch  races  accounts 
also  for  the  varied  complexions  of  Tinklers. 
Speaking   of  the    Yetholm   Gypsies,    Mr   Mac- 


42  2  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Ritchie,  in  his  Scottish  Gypsies  under  the 
Stezvarts,  quoting  from  a  writer  of  the  year 
1835,  says:*' 

"  The  principal  names  of  the  Gypsies  resid- 
ing at  Yetholm  are  Faa,  Young,  Douglas,  and 
Blythe.  The  two  latter  are  most  numerous, 
but  they  are  evidently  not  of  the  same  race. 
The  Douglases,  Faas,  and  Youngs  are  gene- 
rally dark-complexioned  with  black  hair,  while 
the  Blythes  mostly  are  light-haired  and  of  fair 
complexion." 

Borrow  describes  a  Yetholm  Gypsy  woman 
thus  :  "  She  had  a  full,  round,  smooth  face,  and 
her  complexion  was  brown  or  rather  olive,  a  hue 
which  contrasted  with  that  of  her  eyes,  which 
were  blue."^' 

The  various  Tinkler  gangs  all  differ  in 
appearance,  and  can  be  quite  easily  distin- 
guished. Borrow's  description  of  a  Yetholm 
Gypsy  corresponds  with  a  Baillie  of  the  present 
day.  The  Kennedies  were  tall,  handsome  people 
with  swarthy  complexions  and  black  hair.  The 
MacMillans  are  tall,  with  fair  to  ruddy  com- 
plexions and  jdarkish  hair.  The  Marshalls,  on 
the  other  hand,  are  short  in  stature,  swarthy 
complexioned  and  dark  haired.  Like  their 
Pictish  friends  the  Douglases — who  are  now 
.sometimes  black  Douglases  and  sometimes  red 
Douglases — when  a   Marshall   becomes  settled 


Tinkler  Elemeiit  in  Ancient  Scotch  Races.  423 

and  marries  into  a  non-Tinkler  family  the  result 
is  often  a  family  of  red-haired  Marshalls,  and  of 
such  there  are  now  quite  a  number  in  Galloway. 
It  may  be  argued  that  the  Scotch  racial 
characteristics  could  be  got  by  the  inter- 
marriage of  pure  Romani-Gypsies  with  Scotch 
people  of  a  more  or  less  settled  type.  That 
may  be  true  to  some  extent,  but  the  hardship 
of  the  Tinklers'  life  is  one  that  detracts  from 
the  strength  of  that  argument.  It  takes  gene- 
rations of  training  to  inure  them  properly  to 
the  life.  A  non-Tinkler  may  try  it  for  some 
time,  but  he  is  not  nearly  so  likely  to  continue 
the  life  as  those  who  have  inherited  the 
tendency  from  their  ancestors  or  who  have 
been  Tinklers  or  Gypsies  from  time  immemorial. 

But  in  addition  to  those  objections  to  that 
manner  of  accounting  for  the  presence  of 
Scotch  racial  characteristics,  if  a  Romani- 
speaking  Gypsy  had  married  an  ordinary  Scots 
man  or  woman  the  offspring  might  have  spoken 
Romanes  and  Scotch,  or  probably  even  Gaelic, 
but  certainly  not  Tinklers'  cant. 

'J'he  relationship  of  Tinklers  to  the  ancient 
races  and  families  of  Scotland  also  helped  them 
out  of  many  an  awkward  situation.  The  Baillies 
of  Lamington  are  said  to  have  successfully  inter- 
vened in  favour  of  \Villiam  Baillie,  thereby 
thwarting  the  ends  of  justice.      Similarly,  Billy 


Tinklers  related  to  the  Nobility.       425 

Marshall,  despite  the  many  crimes  with  which 
tradition  associates  his  name,  enjoyed  a  singular 
immunity — so  far  as  can  be  learned  from  law 
books — from  trial  for  his  crimes. 

Tradition  has  it  that  on  one  occasion — when 
he  is  said  to  have  killed  his  former  chief,  Isaac 
Miller — he  at  same  time  killed,  for  her  infidelity, 
one  of  his  own  wives  with  whom  Isaac  had 
been  too  familiar. 

Tradition  also  affirms  that  Gordon  of  Ken- 
muir  liberated  Billy,  on  that  same  occasion^ 
after  his  precognition  had  been  taken. 

It  is  also  said  that  the  Selkirk  family  had 
interceded  more  than  once  on  his  behalf.  In  a 
former  chapter  it  has  been  shown  that  Billy 
befriended  two  of  the  ladies  of  the  Selkirk 
family,  and  therefore  merited  consideration  at 
the  hands  of  the  family.  But  it  is  more  likely 
that  Billy's  claim  to  being  related  to  a  well-to-do 
family  of  Marshalls,  and  to  having  had  an  uncle 
who  "commanded  a  King's  frigate,''  weighed 
more  with  the  Eail  in  taking  an  interest  in  Billy 
till  his  death,  and,  as  tradition  affirms,  in 
offering  a  hundred  pounds  to  the  Tinklers  if 
they  would  allow  him  to  lay  Billy's  head  in  the 
grave — a  privilege  which  the  Hammermen  had 
previously  declined  to  grant  as  the  Earl  was  not 
a  member  of  their  guild.  The  Tinklers  are  also 
said  to  have  declined.       Thev  must  have  been 


426  The  Tinkkr-Gypsies. 

both  wealthy  and  proud  the  Tinkle: s  of  those 
days  ! 

For  a  similar  reason  it  would  be  that  the 
Duchess  of  Gordon  saved  Tarn  Gordon  and  the 
"  Duchess  Jean  "  from  paying  the  penalty  for 
serious  crimes.  And  so  it  may  have  come 
about  that  the  ancient  relationship  between  the 
Tinklers  and  the  Gordon  race  or  family,  pre- 
sumably known  to  the  Duchess  of  Gordon,  may 
now  be  the  reason — although  unknown  to  him 
— that  a  certain  nobleman  is  still  regarded  as 
the  hereditary  chief  of  a  settlement  of  Gypsies. 

On  the  other  hand,  Mr  David  MacRitchie 
points  out,  in  The  Monthly  Review^"^  for  May, 
1905,  and  on  the  authority  of  the  Hungarian 
scholar  Emil  Thewrek  de  Ponor,  that  the 
Gypsy  captaincy  was  vested  in  the  nobility 
of  Transylvania  and  Hungary,  that  the 
voyvodeship  or  captaincy  was  an  office  of  State 
bestowed  on  distinguished  personages  as  a 
reward  of  merit,  but  not  on  Gypsies,  and  sug- 
gests "  that  Scotland  may  not  have  differed 
from  Hungary  in  that  respect,  when  in  the 
Privy  Council  writ  the  Scottish  King  calls  the 
Master  of  the  Egyptians  '  our  lovit,'  an  expres- 
sion (signifying  beloved)  which,  in  the  legal 
phraseology  of  Scotland,  denotes  a  loyal 
subject." 

Some  also  nia\-  think   that  the   mere  fact  of 


Tinklers  Entered  Scotland  from  Ireland.  427 

being  the  landowner  of  the  ground  on  which  the 
Gypsies  have  their  headquarters  would  account 
for  the  title,  but,  in  view  of  the  actions  of  the 
forebears  of  those  now  holding  the  hereditary 
chiefship,  we  incline  to  the  reason  first  above 
given  as  being  the  only  satisfactory  explanation. 
The  Tinklers  have  always  contended  that  they 
came  into  Scotland  by  way  of  Ireland,  and 
the  theory  above  advanced  confirms  the  tradi- 
tion. The  Picts,  Dalriads,  and  Scots  all  seem 
to  have  sojourned  in  Ireland,  and  the  Scots  and 
Dalriads  at  all  events  appear  to  have  entered 
Scotland  by  way  of  Ireland,  and  the  Tinkler 
element  in  the  Tinkler  would  in  most  cases  be 
likely  to  descend  through  families  pertaining  to 
such  tribes.  We  may  see  a  lingering  trace  of 
the  Irish  origin  of  Scotch  races  as  well  as  of 
Scotch  Tinklers  in  the  periodical  visitations 
which  Billy  Marshall  and  his  gang  appear  to 
have  made  into  Ireland.  It  appears  that  "  now 
and  then,  by  way  of  improving  themselves  and 
seeing  more  of  the  world,  they  crossed  at 
Donmghadee  and  visited  the  counties  of  Down 
and  Derry."  Tinklers  in  Stornoway  who  had 
recently  sailed  over  from  Orkney  say  that  they 
hailed  originally  from  Ireland.  The  folk-tales 
of  the  Tinklers  must  also  to  some  extent  have 
been  handed  down  to  them  from  their  fore- 
bears on  the  Tinkler  side. 


Buiiyan  a  Tinkler-Gypsy.  429 

Mr  MacRitchie,  in  \\\%  Ancioit  and  Modern 
Britons,  also  shows  that  the  Marshalls'  plan  of 
*' ruddling "  or  keeling  their  faces  to  conceal 
their  appearance  is  of  ancient — ^probably  Pictish 
— origin,  and  a  further  indication  of  their  anti- 
quity may  be  found  in  their  use  of  very  old 
Scotch  and  other  archaic  words,  and  also  in 
using  such  words  as — delation  for  relation, 
susplain  for  explain,  deturn  for  return,  soosand 
for  thousand,  sorn  for  thorn,  pudlick  for  public, 
-sintelplom  for  simpleton,  potagree  for  photo- 
graph, afreshment  for  refreshment,  desidenter 
for  residenter,  you  and  you  like  for  such  as  you. 
The  fact  that  Billy  Marshall  is  designed  in 
the  title  deeds  of  the  dwelling-house  he  owned 
as  "  brazier  "  and  on  his  tombstone  as  "  Tinker  " 
leads  us  to  remark  that  John  Bunyan  was  also 
designed  as  brazier  and  Tinker,  and  here  again 
the  distinction  we  have  sought  to  draw  between 
"Tinkler"  and  "Gypsy"  helps  to  clear  up  a 
point.  Mr  Groome  gives  the  following  fresh 
link  to  the  chain  of  evidence  to  attempt  to 
prove  that  John  Bunyan  was  a  Gypsy  :""  "  In 
the  St.  Mary  Magdalene's  Launceston  Parish 
Register  (vol.  i.,  fol.  74),  is  this  entry  in  1586: 
^  Marche  the  IVth  daie  was  christened  Nicholas 
Sonne  of  James  Bownia  an  Egyptia  rogue.' " 
He  explains  that  "  Egyptia  "  and  "  Bownia"  are 
■evidently   "  Egyptian  "  and   "  Bownian,"  other- 


43°  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

wise  Bunyan,  and  controverts  the  argument  of 
the  Rev.  John  Brown,  of  Bedford,  who,  in  his 
Life  of  Bunyan  (1SS5),  as  well  as  in  the  article 
"Bunyan"  in  Chambers's  Encyclopcedia,  con- 
tends that  Bunyan  cannot  have  been  a  Gypsy, 
because  "Bonyons"  had  been  settled  in  Bed- 
fordshire since  1199,  if  not  earlier.  Mr  Groome 
also  points  out  that  although  Bosvvell  is  a  Gypsy 
name,  it  is  also  an  old  and  honourable  York- 
shire name ;  but  the  simple  and  natural  expla- 
nation is  that  Bunyan  was  of  that  so-called 
(iypsy  class  sometimes  called  braziers,  as 
Bunyan  admittedly  was,  and  sometimes  called 
Tinkers  or  Tinklers,  as  Bunyan  also  admittedly 
was.  He  may  or  may  not  have  had  Romani 
blood  in  his  veins,  but  Mr  Leland  in  his 
Gypsies  shows  that  he  had  many  Gypsy-like 
characteristics.^""     He  says  : 

I  should  have  liked  to  know  John  Bunyan 
as  a  half-blood  Gypsy-Tinkler ;  he  must  have 
been  self-contained  and  pleasant.  He  had  his 
wits  about  him,  too,  in  a  very  Romanly  way. 
When  confined  in  prison  he  made  a  flute  or 
pipe  out  of  the  leg  of  his  three-legged  stool,  and 
would  play  on  it  to  pass  time.  When  the  jailer 
entered  to  slop  the  noise,  John  replaced  the 
leg  in  the  stool  and  sat  on  it,  looking  innocent 
as  only  a  Gypsy-Tinkler  could— calm  as  a  sum- 
mer morning.  I  commend  the  subject  for  a 
picture." 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^■tSv-,  ( 

-.-»■- 

Si   ' 

^K  . 

43-  The  Tinkler- Gypsies. 

The  evidence  so  far  available  does  not 
-warrant  the  conclusion  that  there  were  any  of 
the  Romani-speaking  Gypsies  in  this  country 
prior  to  the  arrival  of  the  wave  first  authori- 
tatively taken  notice  of  in  1505.  Until  direct 
evidence  is  brought  to  controvert  Mr  Groome's 
view  of  the  subject,  we  prefer  to  accept  his 
opinion  as  that  borne  out  by  the  facts  available 
up  to  date.'°^  "  Mr  Groome,"  says  Mr  Eggeling, 
in  reviewing  Mr  F.  Hindes  Groome's  article  in 
Chambers' s  Encyclopcedia,  "on  linguistic  grounds, 
lays  down  a  perfectly  sound  axiom,  which  no 
one,  I  think,  can  gainsay,  that  the  modern 
Gypsies  {i.e.,  Romani  speaking  Gypsies)  were 
descended  not  from  successive  waves  of  Oriental 
emigration,  but  all  from  the  self-same  European 
Gypsy  stock,  whenever  that  stock  may  have  first 
been  transplanted  to  Europe."  Adopting  that 
statement  as  a  basis,  it  is  practically  certain 
that,  as  Mr  MacRitchie  and  Mr  Crofton  have 
both  in  substance  indicated,  when  the  Romani- 
speaking  Gypsies  arrived  in  Britain  somewhere 
about  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century 
they  found  Gypsy-like  castes  wandering  about 
this  country  much  in  the  same  way  as  the 
Romani-Gypsies  themselves  were  wont  to  do. 
These  castes  would  be  the  bards.  Tinklers, 
cairds,  homers,  faas,  muggers,  potters,  jugglers, 
and  such  like,  who  were  castes  of  tribes  which 


Distributio7i  of  Cant.  435 

formerly  inhabited  certain  parts  of  Great  Britain. 
Some  of  these  names  seem  now  to  be  synony- 
mous, and  it  would  now  be  difficult  to  prove 
whether  in  its  origin  each  name  represented  a 
distinct  caste.  Their  distinctive  features  have 
at  least  become  intermixed,  and  traces  of  the 
characteristics  of  all  of  them  may  now  be  found 
in  Tinklers. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  Romani -speaking 
Gypsies  in  Scotland,  it  is  clear  that  a  fusion 
took  place  with  the  Tinklers,  the  offspring  being 
the  Tinkler-Gypsy  race,  and,  as  one  would 
naturally  expect,  the  resultant  composite  cant 
(language)  confirms  that  theory. 

The  strength  of  the  cant  basis  which  predo- 
minates in  the  Tinkler  language,  and  which 
they  still  prefer  to  term  cant  {i.e.,  cainnt  speech), 
would  seem  to  indicate  that,  however  mongrel 
or  effete  it  may  now  be,  it  was  at  one  time  a 
language.  Apparently  the  language  of  these 
castes  differed.  Mr  D.  MacRitchie,  Mr  John 
Sampson,  and  Professor  Kuno  Meyer  have  all 
contributed  largely  to  the  elucidation  of  what 
Shelta  or  Sheldru,  the  cant  in  use  amongst  the 
Tinklers  of  Ireland,  is,  and  Professor  Meyer  has 
shown  it  to  be  none  other  than  the  same  lan- 
guage as  was  used  by  the  ancient  bards. ^"■-  It 
has  been  said  that  if  Shelta  exists  in  Wales  it 
has    still    to    be    discovered.     If  a   real    Welsh 

28 


Distribution  of  Cant.  435 

Tinkler  can  be  found,   we  believe,  however,  it 
will  not  be  difficult  to  ascertain   that  besides 
Romani  words  he  uses  c-int  words  either  of  the 
Shelta  or  some  other  form  derived  from  some 
language  used  by  ancient    inhabitants    of  that 
country.     An  obituary  notice  has  just  appeared 
in  Tlie  Cambrian  News  of  the  death,  at  Llany- 
cyfelin,   of  Grace  Mannion,  aged  80,  widow  of 
Larry   Mannion,    tinman,   and,   strange   to   say, 
we  happened  last  summer  in  Galloway  to  inter- 
view a  "traveller"  woman  named  Mannion,  and 
she  knew  some  words  of  the  Galloway  Tinklers' 
cant.     She  said,  however,  she  hailed  from  near 
Manchester.     Mr  Groome's  description  of  Evan 
Roberts,  the  ancient  bard  of  Wales,  points  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  blood  of  some  of  the 
ancient  inhabitants  of  Wales  as  well  as  Romani 
blood   fiowed  in    his  veins  :"^  "  No,    the   light 
only  revealed  a  hale  old  man  of  middle  stature, 
with  snowy  hair,  who,  to  look  at,  might  be  a 
divine,  a  poet,  or  a  legislator— anything  rather 
than   a   'stancient   Romani   chal.'      His  voice, 
too,    high-pitched   and    voluble  as  any  Welsh- 
man's, helped  him,  though  not  for  long,  to  keep 
up  his  incognito  in  the  ensuing  discourse."     His 
appearance,  also  his  name,  his  calling  and  voice, 
"  voluble  as  any  Welshman's,"  all  point  to  his 
having  something  besides  Gypsy  blood  in   his 
veins.     Each  case  requires  to  be  considered  on 


436 


The  Tinkhr-Gy/'sies. 


its  own  merits,  and  doubtless  there  have  been 
cases  where  Gypsy  blood  has  been  mixed  with 
that  of  ordinary  house-dwellers.  In  such 
cases   the    language    would    be    Romanes,    plus 


Orcadian  Tinkler-Gypsy  Boys. 

the  language  in  use  by  such  house-dwellers 
at  the  time  of  the  intermixture  or  subsequent 
thereto.  lUit  in  many  cases — where  bards, 
Tinklers,  cairds,  homers,  faas,  muggers,  potters, 
and  jugglers,  and  such  like  castes  have  married 
Romanies — the  language  is  something  that  has 


JJ'es^  B/[i^/i/cu/d  Shelta. 


437 


been  handed  down  from  the  tribe  of  which  they 
were  castes,  plus  a  smattering  of  Romanes.  The 
Sheldru  or  Shelta  or  Minkler's  thari  of  the  Irish 
Tinkler  is  such  a  language,  and  the  language  of 
the    Gaelic-speaking    Tinklers    of     the     West 


Perthshire  Tinkler-Gypsies. 


Highlands  is  apparently  also  a  form   of  Sheldru 
or  Shelta. 

From  what  is  stated  by  Mr  G.  Alick  Wilson,^'" 
Shelia,  although  bearing  a  similarity  to  Gaelic, 
is  not  intelligible  to  Gaelic-speaking  people. 
The  Tinklers,  however,  of  the  rest  of  Scotland, 
and  of  Orkney  and  Shetland  and  part  of  the 


438 


The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 


north  of  England,  have  a  language,  which  they 
term  cant,  which  is  different  from  both.  A 
Shelta-speaking  Irish  Tinkler  tells  us  that  when 
he  came  into  Galloway  he  didn't  know  a  word 
of  the  Galloway  Tinklers'  cant,  and  the  Gallo- 
way Tinklers  couldn't  understand  a  word  of  his 
Shelta  or  Sheldru.  That  is  not  strictly  true, 
because  during  a  short  catechising  we  took 
down  a  few  of  his  Shelta  words  and  found  that 
there  were  certain  words  used  by  the  Irish 
Tinklers  and  known  to  the  Galloway  Tinklers. 
We  subsequently  tested  a  Galloway  Tinkler  with 
the  words,  and  the  following  were  the  results  : 


Uhh  ThMcr. 

Galloway  Tinkler. 

Tinkler's  talk       Minkler"s 

iharie 

Cant 

Tinkler 

Minkyer 

Xawken 

Hat 

Caidie 

( 

^aid: 

i,  howfie,  scroof,  gougl 

Cuddy 

Prance  r 

Aizel 

Drink 

Shkimniera 

Peevie,  rauniel 

Whisky 

Sky hope 

Peeve 

Night 

Darkie 

Dark m en t,  rattie 

Town 

Gry 

^"ile,  gaave 

Money 

Thanig 

Lowie 

Children 

Kinchen 

Kinchen 

Woman 

Beur 

Manishie,  beur 

Boy 

Suiblean 

Chavie 

Girl 

Lackeen 

Goorie 

Pipes 

Stumera 

Tchutlie  (a  tobacco  pipe) 

Water 

Pannie 

Pannie,  nioniyclear 

Bread 

Pennam 

Pennam 

>j 

Durra 

Ilabben 

Coat 

Tyug 

Tyug,  loggri'j,  shokie 

Yourself 

\'our  gels 

Your  nesis 

Boots 

Wogies 

Taehis,  si  rods 

Soldier 

Gora  woll; 

ihs 

Klieslie 

Shelta  and  Cant  Contrasted.  439 

"  Mislie  and  don't  tharie  another  lubba  for 
the  beur  of  the  kain  is  sufmyin  ye  in  the  pee^ 
(Move  on  and  don't  speak  another  word  for  the 
woman  of  the  house  is  watching  you  or  looking 
into  your  face.) 

The  Irish  Tinkler's  assertion,  however,  is  sub- 
stantially correct.  The  words  known  to  both — ■ 
caidie,  kinchen,  beur,  pattnie,  pennam,  and  tyug — 
are  common  enough  to  be  known  by  almost  any 
"  traveller,"  but  there  seems  to  be  a  marked 
absence  of  Romani  words  in  Irish  Shelta  when 
compared  with  Galloway  cant. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Irish  Shelta  and 
Galloway  cant  differ  widely,  and  the  words 
selected  in  this  case  happen  by  accident  to  have 
an  undue  proportion  of  Romani  equivalents,  as 
cant  words  proper  seem  to  predominate  over 
Romani  words  in  the  composite  language.  My 
Tinkler  friend  assured  me  that  Irish  Tinklers 
don't  know  Romanes,  and  he  led  me  to  under- 
stand that  the  Romani  words  used  by  him — 
pannie  and  pennam,  like  dura  and  gora  ivollahs 
— were  "  H'Indian,"  and  that  he  learned  them 
when  a  soldier  in  India.  Canon  Ffrench  also 
confirms  this  view.  He  says  in  a  letter  to  the 
writer  hereof : 

"  Our  Irish  Tinklers  are  not  Gypsies — in  fact, 
I  doubt  if  there  are  any  Irish  Gypsies.  There 
w-ere  a  very  respectable   family  of  Gypsies  who 


44°  T)'^  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

frequented  these  parts  some  two  or  three  years 
ago  ;  they  had  a  very  nice  Uving  van  such  as 
that  pictured  on  page  54  (page  234  hereof)  of 
the  journal  you  sent  me,  clean  and  in  good 
order  and  nicely  got  up  in  every  way,  and 
outside  they  had  a  tent  such  as  that  pictured  on 
page  48  (page  162  hereof),  but  these  people 
were  English  Gypsies." 

A  Tinkler  woman  named  Stewart,  hailing 
from  Perthshire,  and  a  non-Gaelic-speaking 
Tinkler  man  named  Campbell,  from  Argyle- 
shire,  both  informed  us  that  the  cant  used  in 
Galloway  was  practically  that  used  by  Perth- 
shire Tinklers,  but  they  assured  us  that  the 
Gaelic-speaking  West  Highland  Tinklers  had  a 
cant  which  they  didn't  understand,  and  which 
Gaelic-speaking  people  could  no  more  under- 
stand than  Galloway  people  could  understand 
the  meaning  of  the  Galloway  Tinklers'  cant 
words.  That  Cumberland,  Galloway,  Argyle- 
shire,  Perthshire,  Inverness-shire,  Caithness- 
shire,  Orkney,  and  Yetholm  Tinklers  all  use 
the  same  cant — which  is  something  different 
from  the  Shelta  or  Gaelic  cant — should  give  a 
basis  and  distribution  sufficiently  pronounced 
to  cause  philologists  to  wonder  if  it  would  not 
be  worth  while  to  examine  patiently  lists  of 
cant,  although  it  has  dwindled  into  something 
like  a  jargon.     It    must  have  been  a  language 


M  Larens  :  Forfarshire  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

iReptoJuced  by  kind  iiermtss^on  from  Dundee  "  Evening  Telegi'aph.") 


442  Tlie  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

that  has  made  a  lasting  impression  upon  these 
wandering  castes.  Cant  may  turn  out  to  be 
merely  a  kind  of  li/igua  franca.  Shelta  did  not, 
and  when  philologists'  efforts  in  that  direction 
were  crowned  with  success,  surely  even  greater 
effort  should  be  put  forth  to  solve  this  even 
more  complicated  problem. 

The  debris  at  the  mouths  of  rivers  and 
conglomerite  rock  have  proved  invaluable  aids 
to  geologists,  and  so,  too,  might  something 
valuable  yet  be  ascertained  by  patient  search 
amongst,  and  a  comparative  analogy  of,  these 
Tinkler  cants  (languages). 

Sufficient  data  may  not  yet  be  to  hand.  In 
Sir  Walter  Scott's  day  little  seems  to  have 
been  known  of  the  Tinkler  language,  for  he 
has  availed  himself  almost  entirely  of  words 
which  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix  to 
Banipfylde  Aloore  Carew.  Yetholm  and  other 
lists  are  now,  however,  available.  The  lists 
collected  by  us  in  Galloway  and  from  Perth- 
shire and  Argyleshire  Tinklers,  with  any  other 
information  in  our  possession,  are  at  the  dis- 
posal of  any  philologist  interested  in  the  subject. 
These  lists  will  be  appended,  and  with  the 
following  results,  of  encjuiries  made  at  selected 
places  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  imperfect 
though  these  are,  will,  we  hope,  help  to  stimu- 
late and  encourage  further  cncjuiry.      A  circular 


An  Appeal  to  Philologists.  445 

was  addressed  to  a  correspondent  in  each  of  the 
places  named  in  both  of  the  following  lists, 
asking  that  a  Tinkler  should  give  the  English 
for  the  cant  words  in  the  first  list  and  the  cant 
words  for  *"he  English  words  in  the  second  list. 
The  results  are  shown  in  the  schedules,  and  if 
any  reader  can  supply  further  information  they 
will  confer  a  favour  by  communicating  same  to 
the  writer  hereof : 


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Forfarshire  Tinkler-Gypsy. 

iRupriiclucuJ  lij-  kiiul  pormis'-'o  i  from  Dundee  "  EveMiiig;Telegi'ai)h.")j 


Tubal  Kaiii  the  First  Tinkler.         449 

Professor  Sayce  shows^"'^  that  Tubal  Kain  was 
the  first  Tinkler  noted  in  history,  and  that  the 
Kenites  will  have  been  a  clan  of  wandering 
blacksmiths  like  a  clan  of  smiths  who  once 
wandered  over  Europe  ;  and  Professor  H. 
Van.  Elven  gives  us  some  notion  of  who  these 
wandering  smiths  were  and  of  the  nature  of 
their  workmanship  r^"" 

"  Prior  to  the  Middle  Ages  in  the  dawn  of 
history,  and  also  during  the  little  known  period 
of  the  settlement  of  Celts,  Gauls,  and  other 
Eastern  peoples  in  the  West  of  Europe,  the 
Gypsies  have  played  a  very  important  role  in  the 
introduction  of  bronze  working  into  the  West. 
Our  archaeological  collections  and  our  proto- 
historic  data  warrant  us  in  saying  that  the  Celts 
and  Gauls  were  preceded  by  a  brown  race  of 
medium  stature,  knowing  how  to  make  and 
work  in  bronze,  who,  concurrently  with  the 
Phoenicians  and  the  Pelasgians  or  Etruscans, 
brought  into  Europe  the  art  of  working  in 
bronze. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  proved  by  our 
numerous  archaeological  deposits  of  the  Bronze 
Age,  which  are  unreservedly  attributed  to 
nomadic  prehistoric  founders,  that  the  Celts, 
Gauls,  and  other  peoples  coming  in  from  the 
East  were  accompanied  in  their  movements  by 
nomadic  founders,  coming  like  themselves  from 

29 


45^ 


The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 


the  East.  These  nomadic  smiths  are  the 
Gypsies,  and  their  appearance  in  Europe  dates 
not  from  the  fifteenth  century  but  from  about 


Tinkler  (Roumanian  "  Calderar  ')  of  Gross-Scheurn, 
Transylvania. 

Photo  liy  Thfolor  Glatz. 

the  year  2000  b.c.  These  behefs  rest  upon  the 
following  data  :  The  objects  discovered  in  our 
archaeological  deposits  of  the  Bronze  Age  are  all 


Piehistoric  Metal<vorker$  Tinklers.     451 

those  of  a  small-handed  race,  or  resemble  the 
ornaments  of  Buddhist  idols.  Their  lechnique, 
then,  is  of  Hindu  origin. 

"  The  Aryan  peoples  had  long  roamed  from 
east  to  west,  and  from  north  to  south,  before 
they  finally  settled  in  Europe.  Wherever  the 
invaders  went  their  nomadic  metal  workers 
accompanied  them,  but  as  a  caste  apart,  living 
by  preference  in  secret  places  such  as  caves  and 
woods.  In  a  cavern  at  Sinsin,  and  in  many 
other  Belgian  localities,  hoards  of  bronze  ob- 
jects have  been  found  which  belonged  to  these 
metal  workers  of  the  Bronze  Age.  The  Sinsin 
hoard  is  remarkable  for  the  number,  the  qua- 
lity, and  the  finish  of  the  bronze  objects,  whose 
ornamentation,  executed  on  the  spot,  is  derived 
from  moulds  or  from  designs  which  are  certainly 
of  Eastern  origin. 

"  After  the  settlement  of  the  Aryans,  the 
nomadic  metal  workers  continued  to  wander 
from  one  colony  to  another,  repairing  articles 
of  ornament,  arms,  and  armour,  and  manufac- 
turing and  selling  the  objects  of  the  hoards. 
Especially  they  visited  fortified  places,  where 
markets  were  held,  like  our  modern  fairs.  For 
a  long  while  the  prehistoric  Gypsies  confined 
themselves  to  the  bronze  industry,  an  artistic 
and  sacred  mystery.  But  a  little  while — about  a 
century — before  the  Roman  Conquest  we  see  a 
division  taking  place  in  metallurgic  art.    Certain 


452 


Tlie  Tinkler-Gypsies. 


nomadic  iron  smelters  settle  down  in  the  mineral 
regions  and  become,  if  not  the  originators,  at 
least  the  principal  leaders  of  our  steel  and  iron 


Gypsy  "  Lingurar"  (Spoonmaker)  of  Transylvania. 

Phot"  liy  .Toll.  Ni'.'kliie. 

work.  The  unaltered  minority  continued  to 
roam  about,  working  chiefly  in  bronze  and 
copper,  but  sometimes  in  gold  and  silver." 


Prehistoric  Metal-ivorkers  Tinklers.     453 

In  such  descriptions  we  find  a  people  whose 
characteristics  and  occupations  bear  a  remark- 
able   resemblance    to    Tinklers    and    Tinkler- 


Gypsy  '"Lingurar"  (Spoonmaker)  of  Transylvania. 

Photo  by  Job.  Xicklas. 

Gypsies,  and  we  wonder  if  Professor  Elven 
would  not  be  inclined  to  admit  "Tinklers"  to 
be    the    Gypsies   in    whom    he    discerns    these 


454  '^^^'^  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

ancient  nomadic  smiths.  T'inklers  were  cer- 
tainly in  Scotland  prior  to  1500,  but  it  is  still  to 
be  proved  that  Romani-speaking  Gypsies  were, 
and  so  meantime  we  must  regard  the  Tinklers 
as  being  the  remnant  of  these  ancient  nomadic 
smiths. 

It  would  be  passing  strange  if  it  could  be 
proved  that  some  of  the  curious  forms  of  Romani 
words,  and  even  Romani  words  unknown  to  the 
English  Romani-speakmg  Gypsies  and  still  in 
use  amongst  the  Tinkler-Gypsies  have  been 
brought  over  by  these  ancient  non)adic  metal- 
workers of  Hindu  origin.  The  opinion,  how- 
ever, above  quoted  of  that  eminent  Gypsiolo- 
gist,  Francis  Hindes  Groome,  appears  to  be  the 
one  most  strongly  supported  by  the  facts 
adduced,  and  there  is  so  far  not  sufficient 
evidence  to  prove  that  such  Romani  words 
were  not  introduced  by  the  wave  of  Romani- 
speaking  Gypsies  first  taken  note  of  in  1505. 
It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  the  Romani 
wave  of  1505  may  have  consisted  of  various 
castes  of  Gypsies  having  the  same  fundamental 
language,  more  or  less  contaminated  by  long 
residence  in  other  countries.  Some  of  these 
Gypsies  may  have  been  of  the  Calderari  (pot- 
menders)  type,  who  would  probably  have 
Romanes  in  a  mongrel  form  ;  and  what  more 
natural    than    that    that    caste    should    show    a 


Tinklers  all  over  the  Globe.  455 

preference  for  mixing  with  the  Tinklers  whom 
they  found  in  Scotland  ? 

Castes  resembling  Tinklers  in  a  more  or  less 
singular  degree  would  seem  to  be  scattered  over 
the  face  of  the  globe.  The  Gypsy  Lore  Jourtial 
(first  series)  shows  that  there  are  Tinkler-like 
castes  in  the  following  places,  viz. :  Hungary^"' 
(The  Calderari),  England"*  (Tinkers),  Italy"^ 
(Zingari-Calderai),  Asia  Minor""  (Ruri),  Monte- 
negro"' (Majstori  viz  Artificers),  Venezuela""'^ 
(The  Chingareros),  Ceylon""  (Telugus),  Ire- 
land"'' (Tinklers),  Spain,"' Palestine"' (Kenites), 
Switzerland"^  (Doerfers,  or  the  Homeless), 
Crimea"'  (Elektschi),  North-West  Bohemia,"" 
Eg)pt'-"  (Berber  and  Rhagaran  Tinklers),  Bel- 
gium^-^(Nieumarklenaars,Boemiens,andNutons), 
Transylvania'"  (Lingurari  and  Calderari).  While 
Tinklers  or  Tinkler-Gypsies  are  seemingly  indi- 
cated in  each  of  these  instances,  careful  local 
enquiries  would  require  to  be  instituted  in 
almost  every  case  before  it  could  be  demon- 
strated whether  Tinklers  or  Gypsies  are  alluded 
to. 

To  sum  up,  then,  the  appearance,  manners, 
and  customs  of  present-day  Tinkler-Gypsies,  the 
descriptions  of  the  characteristics  recorded  of 
those  of  former  days,  their  cant  (mixed  with 
Rotfianes)  language,  the  extraordinary  interest 
taken  in  Tinkler-Gypsies  by  aristocratic  families 


456 


The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 


bearing  the  same  names,  all  tend  to  show  that 
the  Tinkler  element  of  the  Tinkler-Gypsy  is  of 
Scotch  (possibly  chiefly  nomadic  [metal  workers 
of  Hindu  origin),  and  the  Gypsy  element  is  of 
Gypsy  (Hindustani)  extraction. 


CHAPTER   XI. 


"  Mark,  liark,  the  dogs  do  liark, 

The  beggars  are  coming  to  town, 
Some  on  nags,  and  some  in  rags, 
And  one  in  a  velvet  gown." 


Tin-:  "Gi:r.man"  Gypsiks. 


a  storrn  of  hutred  the 
"  German  "  (jy[)sies  have  aroused 
throughout  Scotland  and  Eng- 
land I  The  cause  must  indeed 
have  been  grievous  to  create  such 
a  universal  persecution  of  them. 
It  was  a  sore  thought  to  me  that  Gypsies  could 
be  such  a  scum  of  rascality  as  they  were  said  to 
be  in  the  ne\vspa[)ers.  Hearing  of  the  arrival  in 
our  neighbourhood  of  a  band  of  these  wanderers, 
I  made  up  my  mind  to  see  them  for  myself. 

The  services  of  a  lady  interpreter  (Miss 
Drummond,  Dumfries)  were  duly  obtained. 
The  prospect  of  a  visit  to  a  (iypsy  encampment 
always  thrills  me  with  a  delightful  exciteaient, 
and  the  fact  of  my  Gypsies  being  on  this 
occasion  foreigners,  the  language  of  the  country 


458  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

from  whence  they  hailed  beiny;  unknown  to  me, 
and  the  Romanes  differing  widely  from  English 
Romanes,  of  which  I  have  a  smattering,  made 
my  proposed  visit  unusually  exciting.  I  con- 
fess to  having  mixed  up  a  great  number  of 
questions  in  Romanes  with  mj-  prayers  the  pre- 
vious evening,  and  when  most  folks  were  still 
asleep  we  were  speeding  our  way  to  the  Gypsy 
encampment.  Whilst  walking  up  a  steep  brae, 
near  to  it,  we  enquired  of  a  lad,  "  Have  you 
seen  the  German  Gypsies  ?"' 

"Yes,"  he  said. 

"  What  are  they  like  ?"' 

"  Just  like  black  devils  !  And  they  helped 
themselves  to  cabbages  oot  o'  Aaron  Marr's 
gairden,  and  bought  bread  at  the  baker's  and 
forgot  to  pey't,  and  when  he  ran  after  them  the}' 
just  lauched  and  said,  '  No  moneish.'  " 

When  we  reached  the  encamimient  there 
was  no  one  astir.  A  hasty  consultation  decided 
my  line  of  action.  Fortified,  by  my  kind  inter- 
preter, with  two  German  sentences,  I  approached 
the  principal  tent,  and  peeping  through  the 
door,  I  looked  down  upon  three  sleeping 
figures — an  old  Romany  Dye  (wife),  her  Rom 
(husband),  and  what  appeared  to  be  their  son 
— all  lying  on  comfortable,  clean,  raised  beds, 
and,  to  my  surprise,  all  wrapped  in  elegant 
sleeping  suits. 


'  ]Vake/iifig  the  "  German  "  Gypsies.     459 

"  WoUen  sie  iiicht  aufstehen  f  (Are  you  not 
going  to  get  up  ?)  I  asked.  The  old  man 
blinked  and  said  something  in  German,  which 
I  could  not  follow.  Then  I  fired  off  my  second 
sentence — "  Eine  Jiinse  Dame  ist  kier,  die 
deutsch  spricht'''  (There  is  a  young  lady  with 
me  who  speaks  German).  Again  he  replied  in 
German  and  did  some  more  blinking,  and 
wound  up  by  saying,  "  Cigarette  ?"  with  which 
request  I  at  once  complied.  Then,  having 
run  short  with  my  German,  I  said  in  Romanes : 

'■'' Laicho  Divvns  Romaiiichal"  (Good  day, 
Gypsy  man),  and  he  eagerly  replied  : 

"  Latclio  Divous  Romanno  Rye,''  and,  turn- 
ing to  the  others,  he  said,  ''^Romanno  Rat" 
(Romany  blood),  and  in  a  mon.ient  the  old 
woman  hopped  out  of  bed,  the  others  followed, 
and  how  the  news  was  spread  I  know  not,  but 
soon  the  Gypsies  poured  out  of  every  tent. 
They  swarmed  around  us,  asking  for  bischen 
('"'■  bischli'' )  geld  (a  little  piece  of  money),  and 
moiieish,  alte  stiefei,  alte  jackets,  and  so  on. 

My  young  lady  friend  explained  to  them  that 
I  was  deeply  interested  in  the  Gypsy  race.  I 
asked  them  several  questions  in  Romanes, 
which  they  understood  perfectly,  but  they  said 
their  language  was  different,  and  my  lady  friend 
said  she  observed  they  mixed  up  German  and 
Romanes  a  good  deal.     The  chief  was  asked  in 


"German  '  Gypsies  in  Galloway  (July    i906'. 

Pilot ris  hv  A.  Mc.ji-rni.k. 


Status  of  '■''  German'''  Gypsies.       40 1 

German  if  he  ■.vould  mind  answering  some 
queries  which  I  had  prepared,  and  he  at  once 
assented.  The  following  are  the  questions  and 
answers  : 

"  Are  you  Zigeiinerf  (Gypsies). 

"  No." 

"  Calderari  .?  "  (potmenders). 

"Yes." 

"  Are  you  Lingurari  ?  "  (spoonmakers). 

"  No." 

"  Are  the  Calderari  and  Lingurari  real 
Zigeutier  ?  " 

"  There  is  a  world  of  difference  between  the 
real  Zigeuuer  and  the  Calderari .''  They  also 
admitted  being  known  as  Chaudronnier. 

"  What  is  the  cause  of  your  coming  to  this 
country  ?  " 

"  Because  we  were  advised  it  was  a  free 
country,  with  better  opportunities  for  making  a 
living." 

"  Is  it  on  account  of  the  tax  levied  on  horse- 
dealing  in  the  country  you  have  abandoned  %  " 

"  Yes,  that  is  so." 

"  Is  it  because  there  is  likely  to  be  civil  war 
when  the  Emperor  Franc  Josef  dies  ?  "  They 
explained  that  they  came  from  Alsace  Lorraine, 
Miinster,  and  different  parts  of  Germany,  and 
had  travelled  in  Transylvania,  Bohemia,  Italy, 
and   such    like,   and   as  apparently    they   have 


462  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

travelled  in  many  countries  that  may  have 
accounted  for  their  answering  "yes"  to  that 
query. 

"  Is  it,  as  the  newspapers  have  suggested, 
that  you  are  German  spies  to  take  note  of 
fortifications,  roads,  etc.?"  They  pooh-poohed 
this  query. 

"  Do  you  consider  that  the  police  have  been 
unfair  to  you  ?  Have  they  harassed  you  ? 
Have  the  people  treated  you  unkindly  ?  Have 
you  had  a  chance  to  earn  a  livelihood  by  horse- 
dealing,  etc.  ? "  They  said  they  had  on  the 
whole  not  been  treated  unkindly,  but  they 
beheved  some  of  the  other  Gypsies  had  not 
been  so  fortunate. 

"  Why  do  you  allow  your  folks  to  beg  so 
persistently  ?  "  It  was  explained  to  them  that 
begging  created  prejudice,  that  they  would 
obtain  more  sympathy  and  help  if  they  did  not 
insist  on  getting  "  moneish,"  and  that  Scotch 
people  can't  tolerate  inveterate  begging.  They 
answered  they  were  so  arm  (very,  very  poor) 
and  had  kein  ge/d  (no  money),  and  as  they 
were  hampered  by  ignorance  of  the  language, 
they  could  do  little  so  far  at  horse-dealing  or  as 
kessel-flkker  (pot-menders),  and  so  they  must 
beg  to  live.  As  an  indication  of  their  desire 
to  work,  they  produced  this  certificate  from  a 
friend  in  Paisley  : 


"  German  "  Gypsies  liked  Scotland.      463 

"  This  is  to  certify  that  the  Gypsy  man  can 
mend  pots  and  pans  at  a  very  reasonable  price 
— the  one  he  shows  costs  sixpence,  which  is 
cheap  to  what  we  pay  here. 

"  (Sgd.)     S.  Lehmann. 

"  Cross  Restaurant." 

"  From  a  monetary  point  of  view  do  you  find 
Scotch  people  kinder  or  the  reverse  than  the 
people  of  the  country  from  whence  you  have 
come  V     They  answered  : 

"  We  like  this  country  very  well,  and  tind  the 
Scots  kinder  than  the  English." 

"  Have  you  ever  met  any  English  Gypsies  ?" 

"  Yes,  lots." 

"  Could  you  understand  their  Romanes  .?  " 

"  Yes  j  but  English  Ronianes  is  very  different 
from  ours.'' 

"  Have  you  met  any  Scotch  Tinklers  ?  What 
think  you  of  them  ?" 

"  Yes  ; "  but  they  refrained  from  criticising 
them. 

"  What  strikes  you  most  about  the  folks 
here  ?  Are  you  taken  with  the  country  or  the 
reverse?  Do  you  intend  to  remain  in  this 
country  ?  "     They  said  : 

"  We  like  this  country  and  the  people,  but 
we  are  undecided  as  to  where  we  are  going." 

AVe    next    expressed   a   desire    to   take    their 


Half-blood  Gypsies  Despised.  465 

photos,  but  again  iheir  extreme  anxiety  to 
obtain  bischli  geld  became  manifest.  Being 
assured  that  we  had  no  intention  of  taking 
their  photos  and  then  departing  without  paying, 
as  they  indicated  had  frequently  been  done 
before,  they  desisted.  Like  all  Gypsies,  they 
seemed  to  despise  the  posh  and  posh  (half  and 
half)  blooded  Gypsies,  and  so  two  poor  women 
were  excluded  from  the  photos — and  one  of 
them  sat  at  the  mouth  of  her  tent  hurling 
violent  language  at  the  others,  and  assuring 
them  that  she  was  come  of  as  good  folks  as  they 
were. 

The  Queen  Marono  Dammo — did  us  the 
honour  of  dressing  specially  to  have  her  photo 
taken,  and  donned  a  lovely  shawl,  asking  my 
lady  friend  if  it  was  not  sehr  schones  tuck  (a 
very  pretty  shawl),  and  indicating  to  me  in 
Romaties  the  various  colours — kaulo  (black), 
selno  (green),  loUo  (red),  and  so  forth.  A  crowd 
having  gathered  round,  one  of  the  Ronia7n-chals 
caused  considerable  amusement  by  shouting 
in  most  approved  Galloway  dialect  to  a  boy 
who  was  likely  to  spoil  the  photo — "  Haud  oot 
o'  the  road,  boych  !"  Marono  kept  telling  me 
that  the  Friiulein  had  a  "  shiikar  tnui"  '^^  Rin- 
kennif  '•'•  Ja-rinkenni.^^  I  pointed  out  the 
Sergeant,  and  asked  her  if  he  was  a  tnoccoddo 
vianush  (dirty,   nasty  fellow),   like  some  of  the 

30 


466  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

other  prastermeiigros  (policemen),  but  she  said, 
"  No,  he  is  a  most  handsome  man,  and  has 
been  unusually  kind  and  considerate."  Having 
explained  that  I  meant  to  pay  the  old  Queen 
trill  trin  gorishis  instead  of  giving  to  all  of 
them,  I  paid  the  money  to  her,  and  she  thanked 
me  and  returned  to  the  mouth  of  her  tent 
smiling  most  sweetly  but  complacently  all  the 
while—  for  her  myrmidons  knew  their  duty ! 
She  did  not  even,  when  pretending  to  conciliate 
us,  require  to  say  //lang  prala  viang  (beg  on, 
brother,  beg  on).  They  begged  most  invete- 
rately.  I  gave  them  a  few  pence,  and  then 
turned  my  trouser  pockets  inside  out  and  ran 
back  to  the  Queen,  and  said  in  Romanes — 
"  Tell  them  to  atch  mangan "  (stop  begging). 
She  at  once  complied,  and  I  shall  never  forget 
the  strange  rattling  sound  she  uttered  like  what 
might  have  been  the  war  chant  of  a  host  of 
people.  She  afterwards  came  close  up  to  me 
and  said  I  must  have  Rortianno  rat  (Gypsy 
blood)  in  my  veins  when  I  took  such  a  great 
interest  in  Gypsies.  Her  order  had  the  desired 
effect  with  all  except  one  didakei  (half-caste) 
Gypsy  woman,  who  followed  holding  on  to  me 
and  begging  most  persistently.  ''' Ja  kair!^'' 
(go  home)  T  said.  Still  she  clung  to  me. 
""^  Jal  lo  beng ! "  I  shouted,  and  the  other 
Gypsies    laughed,     but    still    the    cry    was    for 


Imaginary  Delicts.  467 

vioneish  and  "  bischli  geld."  At  last  in  my 
extremity  I  said  to  one  of  my  friends,  "  Hold 
my  bike,"  and  catching  the  chei  hy  the  shoulders 
I  tried  to  jump  her  on  to  the  bike ;  and  when 
she  struggled  to  get  free  I  hopped  on,  and 
moved  off  amidst  roars  of  laughter  and  cries  of 
"  Guten  Mo7-ge?i  Fraidein-latcho  divvus  Rcmanno 
Rye  ta  shukar  bakt  !  " 

Of  course,  their  visit  produced  the  usual 
fitrore.  Doors  were  bolted,  and  cannie  shop- 
keepers either  blocked  the  entrance  to  their 
shops  with  their  own  manly  forms,  or,  deeming 
discretion  the  better  part  of  valour,  put  the  key 
of  the  door  in  their  pocket,  and  stood  on  the 
footpath  feigning  that  they  had  no  connection 
with  the  shop  !  Stories  were  at  once  set  afloat 
and  exaggerated.  Here  it  was  that  a  Gypsy 
woman  had  sprung  at  a  man  and  scratched  his 
face,  but  on  inquiry  the  incident  out  of  which 
the  story  had  been  exaggerated  reflected  not 
the  slightest  discredit  on  the  Gypsy  woman. 
Indeed,  it  was  manufactured  out  of  the  simplest 
of  good-natured  joking.  In  another  case  a 
.shop,  which  the  shopkeeper  assures  me  the 
Gypsies  had  never  entered,  was  said  to  have 
been  completely  ransacked. 

A  Gypsy  woman  was  also  said  to  have  got 
the  better  of  a  greengrocer,  into  whose  shop  she 
had  gone  to  buy  vegetables.     The  greengrocer 


lield    up    a    cabbage,    and     the  Gypsy    woman 
answered   ''  Neiu,   iiein,''  whereupon    the    shop- 
keeper laid  down  nine  cabbages,  and  the  Gvpsy 
woman  quickly  whisked  them  into  her  mofiging 
gum  (begging  bag),  and  putting  down  a  penny 
departed  proud  of  her  bargain.      Unfortunately 
when  I  chaffed  Marono  about  her  cleverness  in 
getting  the  nine  cabbages  for  a  penny,  she  said 
she  only  regretted  it  was  not  true.     There  must 
have  been  some  real  cases  of  depredation  or 
complaints  could  hardly  have  been  so  numerous, 
but  the  above  prove  th:it  there  were  many  cases 
of  "  giving  a  dog  a  bad  name  and  you  may  hang 
him."     There  are  stories  also  about  their  acting 
rudely  and  roughly  to  people  who  refused  them 
alms,  but  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the  precise 
facts     in     each     cas?.       Whilst     watching     the 
"  German "  Gypsies    begging   along   a  street  a 
gentleman    remarked,    "  Look    at    them  ;    they 
take    every    door    except    the    public-houses  !  " 
Assuming,   however,    for  argument    that   every- 
thing  is   true    that    has     been    alleged   against 
them    in  the  newspapers,  are  our  own   actions 
towards  them  all  that  could  be  desired  from  a 
Christian  nation,  and  the  foremost  among  the 
civilised  nations  ? 

'  The  newsj)apers  have  been  filled  with  letters 
from  correspondents  condemning  the  Gypsies, 
but  few  of  the  writers  ever  made  the  experiment 


470  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

of  trying  to  find  out  if  they  possessed  any  good 
qualities  ;  and  if  they  did  discover  any  such 
qualities,  then  they  kept  the  knowledge  severely 
to  themselves.  Let  us  look  at  a  few  extracts 
from  some  of  my  correspondents  who  have 
approached  the  subject  sympathetically  :  (a) 
"  I  hasten  to  tell  you  (as  I  know  your  interest 
in  the  Gypsy  folk)  that  walking  up  from 
Dumfries  yesterday  I  came  upon  the  German 
Gypsies'  camp  on  the  road  between  Holywood 
and  Friars'  Carse,  out-picketed  by  three  bobbies 
as  if  they  were  thieves  and  blackguards.  My 
Romany  is  too  slight  to  be  of  any  use,  but  their 
eyes  glistened  when  they  heard  '  Gitten  Tag 
Freiinde  wie  gehfs  ?  '  from  my  Galloway  tongue, 
and  glad  I  was  to  interpret  for  them  to  the 
police,  who,  of  course — asses  as  they  all  are — 
know  nothing  but  the  Dumfries  dialect.  I 
spent  half-an-hour  with  them  smoking,  talking, 
and  laughing,  thereby  irretrievably  damaging 
my  reputation  in  the  eyes  of  the  too  well-paid, 
fat,  and  sleek  men  in  blue.  They  will  be  in 
Dumfries  to-day,  and  are  anxious  to  get  home, 
having  been  deceived  by  information  they  got 
in  Germany  as  to  prospects  here.  I  daresay 
you'll  think  it  worth  while  to  spend  a  returi\ 
ticket  and  go  and  interview  thcni.  Only  one  — 
a  half-breed  evidently — descended  whinitigly  to 
beg  for  '  moneish.'      She  didn't  get  it,  though, 


Sympathetically  Rega7-ded. 


471 


but  got  a  '  through-pittin' '  from  the  headman. 
One  glance  at  the  swarthy  skins,  svelte  forms, 
glistening  teeth,  Gypsy  love  of  jewellery,   and 


Posing  for  "Bischli  Geld." 

Phuto  by  J.  Dunn. 


ban  eiifant  altitude  to  those  who  show  sympathy, 
show  them  to  be  no  Gorgios,  but  true  Romany. 
All  they  would  take  from  me — all  I  offered,  in 


472  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

fact,  for  their  mien  was  independence  itself — 
was  a  stick  of  tobacco.  I  would  have  spent 
more  time  with  them,  but  I  had  1 1  miles  to 
walk  for  dinner,  so  zacuus  procedit  if  not  cantat." 
(b)  " .  .  .  I  came  upon  the  poor  nomads 
about  3.30  in  the  afternoon  at  a  colliery 
village  called  Throckley,  5  miles  from  the 
city  (Newcastle-upon-Tyne).  They  had  already 
travelled  15  miles  from  Hexham,  and  were 
destined  to  travel  another  15  miles  before  they 
could  find  rest  for  their  weary  bodies  and  their 
worn -out  horses.  ...  I  did  not  like  to 
intrude  on  the  privacy  of  their  poor  meal,  but 
my  fellow-countrymen  had  no  such  scruple. 
Some  pushed  and  stared  and  sneered.  A 
young  cki,  with  a  deportment  like  a  queen, 
jumped  up,  walked  round,  and  said  m  broken 
English,  '  Stan'  back  ! '  and  they  stood  back  ! 
1  shall  never  forget  these  foreign 
Romany  folk  sipping  their  cups  of  coffee.  I 
thought  of  the  champagne  flowing  at  Gosforth 
Park  !  .  .  .  .  The  chabos  themselves 
called  me  Kuslili  /{oina/ino,  and  begged  for 
cigarettes  and  pennies.  They  patted  my  back 
and  mounted  my  bike,  and  fell  off  and  shouted; 
then  all  hands  pushed  at  the  back  of  the  van 
when  we  came  to  a  steep  [)arL  of  the  road. 
A  policeman  now  interfered,  and  said 
the   van   must   not  lto  011    to  the   moor  at   this 


Symf^atheticallv  Regarded.  473 

point.  .  .  .  Meanwhile  he  telephoned  to 
the  central  police  station.  He  told  me  he 
had  no  instructions.  A\'hy  had  the  county 
police  not  wired  ?  Here  was  a  bad  case  of 
cruelty  to  animals.  He  blustered  away  at  me 
and  the  Gypsies  in  the  usual  style.  Had  it  not 
been  for  domestic  reasons  I  should  have  broken 
out  into  open  rebellion  against  poHcemanisation, 
but  it  would  only  have  resulted  in  a  charge 
of  'drunk  and  disorderly,'  and  respectability 
would  have  turned  up  the  whites  of  its  eyes. 
.  There  were  some  handsome  young  chies 
about  with  their  uncombed  hair  and  travel-stained 
.skirts,  and  the  contrast  between  these  festival 
people  and  the  poor  Bohemians  was  to  me 
unspeakably  sad.  A  man  jeered  at  me  and 
said,  '  They  stink.'  Oh,  for  George  Borrow  and 
Long  Melford !  Dirty :  Yes,  I  felt  dirty, 
too,  covered  with  road  dust.  Where  were 
the  hospitable  baths  of  Novo  Castra  for  us 
travellers  ?  .  .  .  But  no  I  another  stop- 
page. Presently  a  personage  with  silver  lace 
and  his  peaked  cap  took  command,  and  the 
vans  were  all  moved  away  from  the  land 
of  promise,  and  the  weary,  merciles=,  un- 
pitying  Harass  continued.  Hospitable  New- 
castle I  Never  let  that  title  be  claimed  again  ! 
Is  it  not  all  chronicled  in  the  local  Press 
how    the    pony    fell    after    crossing    the    Tyne 


474  T/i<^  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

and  the  men  of  Gateshead  put  their  shoulders 
to  the  vans  1" 

Even  so,  and  much  more  to  a  similar  effect 
writes  a  gentleman  who  made  a  long  trekk  with 
the  Gypsies  to  see  for  himself  how  they  acted 
and  how  they  were  treated.  Frequent  meetings 
with  the  "  German  "  Gypsies  increased  his  in- 
terest in  them,  and  this  is  his  excellent  pen- 
picture  of  their  departure  from  the  quay  at 
Newcastle  :  "  During  the  week  ending  3rd 
November,  1906,  I  was  a  great  deal  with  the 
foreign  Gypsies — up  soon  in  the  mornings  at 
their  encampment  before  seven,  and  out  late  at 
night  with  the  policemen.  I  had  a  busy  time, 
and  until  I  saw  the  van  and  pony  of  Gypsy 
King  Joseph  -Steinbach  hoisted  on  the  Sir 
William  Stephenson  I  could  not  rest.  It  poured 
with  rain  all  that  week.  One  of  the  daughters 
sobbed  bitterly  as  the  vessel  slowly  moved  away 
from  the  wharf,  and  the  big  burly  King  took  off 
his  hat,  and  striking  an  attitude  with  his  arm 
and  hat  held  over  the  side  of  the  boat,  said 
'Good-bye,  England  !'  So  he  remained  till  out 
of  sight,  and  I  raised  my  hat  and  shouted 
'  Hurrah  !  hurrah  ! '  unheeding  the  expostula- 
tions of  my  wife." 

These  Gypsies  were  apparentl)-  the  higher 
class  known  as  the  Sigeuner.  A  scholarly 
account  of  a  visit  paid  to  the  same  lot  by  Mr 


Gypsy  Detracfoj's.  475 

John  Sampson,  Liverpool,  in  which  he  records 
the  first  "  German "  Gypsy  folk-tale  ever  re- 
corded by  a  Gajikano  Rom,  will  be  found  at 
page  1 1 1  of  No.  2  vol.  i.  of  The  Jounial  of  the 
Gypsy  Lore  Society  (new  series). 

In  many  cases,  be  it  said  to  their  credit, 
newspapers  have  loudly  condemned  the  con- 
duct meted  out  to  these  Gypsies  by  Hooligan 
mobs.  One  Christian  gentleman  —  Pastor 
Geyer,  an  Austrian,  though  minister  of  the 
German  Protestant  Church,  Glasgow — deemed 
it  his  duty  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  to  offer 
these  poor  oppressed  wanderers  spiritual  minis- 
trations, not  because  they  happened  to  come 
from  Germany,  but  because  they  had  souls  to 
save.  Amongst  other  Christian  acts  done  by 
him  on  their  behalf  be  appealed  through  the 
columns  of  the  Press  for  clothing  for  the 
scantily-clad  Gypsy  children  to  be  baptised  by 
him.  All  honour  to  the  generosity  of  the  kind 
folks  who  promptly  complied  with  the  good 
pastor's  appeal,  but  one  minister  of  the  Gospel 
expressed  the  hope  that  no  one  would  respond 
to  the  pastor's  request  since  we  had  enough 
poor  people  in  Scotland  without  any  German 
Gypsies,  and  yet  such  as  he  beg  for  money  to 
send  missionaries  to  preach  the  glorious  Gospel, 
but  when  they  have  the  heathen  brought  to 
their  own  door  they  would  spurn  them  from  it 


476  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

and  persecute  them.  Alackaday  !  Where  is 
the  vaunted  zeal  of  the  young  ministers  who  go 
abroad  to  preach  the  glorious  Gospel  to  the  be- 
nighted heathen  ?  Is  it  too  drivelling,  common- 
place, and  unheroic  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
such  heathen  at  our  own  doors  ?  Why  did  not 
an  Archbishop  and  a  Moderator,  ever  zealous 
for  the  honour  and  missionary  prestige  of  their 
Churches,  write  a  letter  to  the  newspapers  en- 
joining pastors  in  each  district  to  show  at  least 
a  friendly  interest  in  these  despised  and  down- 
trodden Gypsies  ?  All  credit  to  the  parson 
who,  probably  at  great  personal  risk,  achieved, 
what  the  police  either  could  not  or  would  not 
do,  by  staying  the  fury  of  that  ^///-British  Perth- 
shire mob,  who  stoned  —  a  grievous  wound 
being  inflicted  on  a  Gypsy  woman — and  other- 
wise maltreated  a  gang  of  the  foreign  Gypsies. 
Surely  if  the  Gypsies  were  as  bad  as  they  were 
said  to  be.  Pastor  Geyer's  and  every  other 
Christian's  duty  was  on  that  very  account  all 
the  more  clear  !  But  a  leading  member  of  one 
of  (jur  Protestant  Churches  told  the  pastor  he 
had  no  business  to  "  cast  pearls  before  swine." 
Shame  upon  such  canting  hypocrites  whose 
sham  rcligifjn  makes  religion  a  byword  and  is 
a  stumbling-block  to  the  acceptance  of  a  Gospel 
that  has  loving  kindness  and  charity  for  its 
root-princi[jle,    and    may    Pastor    Geyer's    own 


Hereditary  Detractors.  477 

conscience  reward  him  richly  through  the  know- 
ledge of  a  Christian  duty  faithfully  discharged 
in  the  face  of  spiteful  opposition,  jealousy,  and 
boycotting  ! 

I  do  not  for  a  moment  doubt  that  much 
exaggeration  and  mahgnraent  have  crept  into 
newspaper  accounts  and  letters,  and  I  hope 
that,  on  calmer  reflection,  tte  Gypsies'  heredi- 
tary detractors  may  see  that  they  have  allowed 
resentment  to  upset  the  balance  of  their  reason, 
and  that  in  the  stoning  of  the  Gypsies,  spitting 
in  their  food,  harassing  them,  compelling  them 
to  overwork  their  horses,  driving  them  from 
camping  grounds  of  which  they  had  actually 
paid  the  rent,  and  boycotting  those  who, 
rightly  or  wrongly,  considered  it  their  duty 
to  proffer  friendly  treatment  to  the  Gypsies, 
they  have  simply  been  acting  unthinkingly,  and 
proving  themselves  capable  of  doing  even  more 
inhumane  tilings  than  anything  attributed  to  the 
poor,  despised,  down-trodden  Gypsies.  Why, 
the  wonder  is  that  the  impulsive  and  passionate 
nature  of  the  Gypsies  has  been  held  so  well  in 
check,  and,  speaking  with  some  knowledge  of 
them,  I  say  we  ought  to  be  deeply  grateful  to 
them  for  having  kept  their  tempers  so  well 
curbed  under  great  provocation.  Undoubtedly 
the  police  have  had  a  most  difificult  task  to 
carry  through.     The   machinery  of  the   law   is 


4/8  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

not  adapted  for  such  emergencies,  and  so  the 
law  devised  a  plan  whereby  each  district 
hustled  them  on  to  the  next.  It  may  be  that 
each  constable  did  his  part  kindly,  but  the 
aggregate  of  such  treatment  when  continued 
from  6  a.m.  till  ii  at  night,  as  happened,  can 
only  be  characterised  as  inhumane.  Only  two 
criminal  cases  appear  to  have  been  raised 
against  any  of  them,  the  one  for  trespassing — or, 
more  properly,  trespassing  at  the  instigation  of 
the  police — having  ultimately  been  abandoned, 
the  worst  of  all  examples  to  the  Gypsies — and 
the  other  for  passing  a  base  coin,  which  the 
Gypsies  maintained  had  been  palmed  off  on 
them,  and  which  they  in  turn  merely  tried  to 
pass  on  to  another.  If  they  stole,  as  was  so 
constantly  averred,  why  was  the  first  reported 
case  of  theft  not  acted  upon,  and  the  thief 
popped  in  jail  ?  That  would  have  been  an 
example  the  Gypsies  could  have  understood. 
The  head  and  front  of  their  offence  is  their 
inveterate  begging,  and  doubtless  it  is  most 
reprehensible,  but  there  is  always  this  to  be 
said  in  mitigation — -these  Gypsies  are  a  strange 
people,  a  peculiarly  constituted  people — and 
who  dare  blame  them  for  that  ? — a  people  who 
carry  with  them  to  our  doors  the  customs, 
habits,  manners,  style  of  dress,  and  speech  of 
the    East,    and    put    into    practice    the    latest 


Htredita/y  Detractors.  479 

recommendation  of  scientists  as  to  the 
desirability  of  living  a  simple  life  in  the 
open  air.  In  short,  they  are  here  on  show 
—  and  a  show  well  worth  paying  to  see  for 
those  who  can  appreciate  it — and  in  that  view 
is  there  any  grave  wrong  in  asking  for  a  trifle 
for  allowing  you  to  inspect  them  either  at  their 
encampment  or  at  your  own  doorway,  if  they 
should  present  themselves  there  for  exhibition  ? 
Why  should  people  be  allowed  to  come  gazing 
at  these  poor  wayfarers,  watching  their  every 
movement,  and  taking  photographs  of  them,  if 
they  are  not  prepared  to  pay  for  it  1 

It  is  needless  now  to  discuss  the  right  or  the 
wrong  of  admitting  them  into  this  country.  The 
law  having  permitted  them  to  land  should  from 
the  outset  have  treated  them  firmly  but  kindly 
within  the  limits  of  the  law.  Dare  the  law 
have  meted  out  such  treatment,  as  it  has  to 
these  poor  wayfarers,  to  any  subjects  of  His 
Majesty?  Some  folks  condemn  them  on 
account  of  their  roving  habits,  and  because 
they  are  not  at  precisely  the  same  stage  of 
development  as  themselves,  forgetful  of  the  fact 
that  our  own  forebears  are  supposed  also  to 
have  come  westwards,  and  that  but  a  thousand 
years  ago  we  were  a  race  addicted  to  raiding 
and  reiving.  Begging  and  pilfering  were  the 
chief    complaints     made     against    them,    and 


Sco/s  and  Gxpsies  Contrasted.  48  r 

indeed  all  the  world  over  these  easily  detected 
delicts  are  the  only  ones  they  are  addicted  to. 
But  what  of  their  hereditary  detractors  ?  There 
is  much  veneer  about  our  modern  civilisation. 
When  "  German "  Gypsies  come  amongst  us, 
or  in  times  of  war,  what  horrid  passions  gain 
the  ascendency  !  And  even  in  times  of  peace 
there  are  known  to  be  "  tricks  in  every  trade," 
gigantic  swindles  and  pious  frauds  in  every 
trade  and  profession,  that  the  law  is  not 
sufficiently  perfected  to  cope  with — yea,  even 
many  of  such  "open  secret"  crimes  are 
practised  under  the  very  guise  and  cloak  of 
religion  and  charity  !  In  view  of  our 
inhumane  treatment  of  these  unfortunates  in 
a  strange  country  there  is  more  aptness  than 
seems  in  Sorrow's  comparison  of  the  Scots  and 
the  Gypsies  :  "  '  Ay,  but  the  Scotch  are  ' — foxes, 
foxes,  nothing  else  than  foxes,  even  like  the 
Gypsies — the  difference  between  the  Gypsy  and 
Scotch  fox  being  that  the  first  is  wild,  with  a 
mighty  brush,  the  other  a  sneak  with  a  gilt 
collar  and  without  a  tail."  "  Marono  Dammo," 
on  a  begging  tour,  chanced  to  wander  into 
Rutherford  Free  Church,  Newton-Stewart,  dur- 
ing divine  service.  Immediately  she  saw  her 
mistake  she  crossed  herself,  knelt  devoutly,  and 
repeated,  "La  preche  I  La  preche  I" — and  the 
minister    and    congregation    being    engaged    in 

81 


482  The  Tinkler  Gypsies. 

prayer — no  one  invited  her  to  sit  down,  and  so 
she  wandered  out  again.  Naturally  my  readers 
will  expect  that  when  the  elders  came  round  to 
the  plate  they  found  that  "  Marono "  had 
gone  off  with  the  whole  collection  !  Not  so,  my 
kind,  charitable.  Christian  friends  !  The  collec- 
tion had  been  carefully  lifted  immediately 
before  the  "  heide}i  "  entered,  but  "  Marono," 
instead  of  stealing  from  the  plate,  had  proved 
how  charitable  she  could  be  by  placing  therein 
a  small  silver  coin  in  aid  of  the  funds  of 
a  congregation  which  had  failed  to  extend 
the  hand  of  welcome  towards  her  !  The  minis- 
ter, who  takes  a  real  interest  in  the  wandering 
tribes,  was  very  naturally  mucli  annoyed  that 
she  should  have  arrived  at  such  an  inopportune 
moment,  and  so  had  vanished  ere  anyone  had 
tried  to  persuade  her  to  worship  with  them. 

Let  my  readers  try  to  picture  the  condition 
of  a  band  of  Scotch  Gypsies  in  Germany  with 
no  knowledge  of  German,  and  it  will  help  them 
to  understand  the  full  poignancy  and  pregnancy 
of  meaning  of  that  one  word  moueish,  the  use  of 
which  by  the  German  Gypsies  has  been  their 
chiefest  reproach.  Why,  if  our  own  Gypsies 
were  harassed  and  hustled  as  these  were  they 
could  not  exist  ivithout  trespassing,  begging, 
and  stealing,  the  very  things  the  stupid  policy 
of  the  law  was  hastily  improvised  to  prevent. 

I  must  only  speak  of  these  foreign  Gypsies 


Improved  on  Acquaintance.  483 

as  I  found  them.  They  begged  invelerately. 
They,  however,  appreciated  kindly  treatment, 
and  my  lady  friend  said  they  repeatedly  said 
"  Die  leute  verstehen  nns  nicht "  (The  people 
misunderstand  us),  from  which  she  gathered 
they  would  not  fail  to  reciprocate  kindness. 
Although  those  interviewed  by  us  were  merely 
of  the  calderari  species,  a  caste  corresponding 
to  our  Tinklers,  they  were  comfortably  dressed, 
had  nice  clean  beds,  appeared  to  be  clean  them- 
selves, bore  no  trace  of  drunkenness,  and, 
my  lady  friend  assured  me,  they  spoke  most 
politely  in  high  German,  and  I  came  away 
with  a  much  better  impression  of  them  than  I 
had  gathered  from  reading  of  them  in  the  news- 
papers. I  have  also  read  of  the  Gypsy  women 
benig  condemned  for  their  decolletees  costume. 
J  found,  however,  they  were  simply  attired  as 
one  would  expect  to  find,  and  as  one  does  find, 
Gypsies  attired  everywhere,  but  let  Emerson's 
jioble  tribute  defend  them  on  that  score  : 

"  The  sun  goes  down  and  with  him  takes 
The  coarseness  of  my  poor  attire  ; 
The  fair  moon  mounts  and  aye  the  flame 
Of  Gypsy  beauty  blazes  higher. 

Pale  Northern  girls  I  you  scorn  our  race  ; 

You  captives  of  your  air-tight  halls, 
Wear  out  in-doors  your  sickly  days, 

But  leave  us  the  horizon  walls. 

And  if  I  take  you,  dames,  to  task, 

And  say  it  frankly  without  guile, 
Then  you  are  Gypsies  in  a  mask. 

And  I  the  lady  all  the  while." 


CHAPTER  XII. 


HERE'S    wee    Tammie   Twent)-,    tlie 

auld  Tinkler  bodie, 
Comes  here  twice  a  year  wi'  his  creels 

an'  his  cuddy  ; 
\Vi'    Nancy,    his   wife,  sae  gudgy  and 

duddy, 
Il"s   hard  to  say  whilk  is  the  queerest 

auld  bodie. 

From  Wee  Tammie  Twenty  in 
"  The  Gaberlunzie's  Wallet. " 


In  this  Galloway  of  ours  it  is  interesting  to 
take  stock  of  the  various  types  of  mankind  one 
meets  there.  A  clever,  observant  Aberdonian 
once  remarked  at  a  public  dinner  in  Galloway 
that  he  had  been  struck  by  the  abnormal 
number  of  large  and  regular  featured  men 
gathered  around  the  table.  The  remark  was 
completely  justified  by  the  appearance  of  the 
guests.  At  a  Tinkler  camp  where  there  is  so 
much  that  is  interesting,  if  one  has  only  the 
knowledge  to  assess  things  at  their  proper  value, 
one  must  not  omit  to  take  stock  of  the  types 
one  sees  there.  The  Marshalls  are  interesting 
as  types  of  the  Romani-speaking  Gypsies,  and 
possibly  of  the  Picts.  But  even  the  swarthy, 
short,  thick-set  William  Marshall,  the  present 
head  of  the  remnants  of  the  Marshall  gang,  is 


486  The  Tiiikkr-Gypsies. 

not,  in  our  opinion,  nearly  so  striking  or  so 
interesting  a  type  as  that  of  his  partner  in 
h'fe,  who  is  an  O'Neil.  Arriving  early  one 
morning  at  an  encampment  of  Marshalls, 
we  found  Katie  O'Neil  or  Marshall  bus)- 
dressing  a  little  grandchild  with  his  scanty 
garments.  The  old  Tinkler  woman  is  black- 
haired,  squat,  and  swarthy  in  complexion,  with 
a  tinge  of  red  in  it.  There  is  a  look,  wiped  all 
over  her  face,  that  gives  one  the  impression 
she  is  labouring  under  a  constant  grievance 
against  society.  This  same  look  is  common  to 
ethers  of  her  own  lot,  and  still  it  does  not,  so 
far  as  we  are  aware,  imply  that  they  are  cross- 
grained.  On  the  contrary,  we  have  always 
found  them  most  civil  and  polite.  To  our 
surprise,  the  skin  on  the  body  of  the  grand- 
child was  almost  as  dark  as  one  would  expect 
to  see  on  a  Mongolian  child.  Unfortunately 
the  camera  can't  produce  colour,  but  the  chikl 
is  still  alive  and  its  colour  will  bear  out  what  is 
here  recorded.  The  Irish  Tinklers  are  said 
also  to  be  "dark-haired  and  of  swarth)-  appear- 
ance, and  they  seldom  marry  out  of  their  own 
caste."  '^'^  One  of  the  illustrations  to  a  former 
chapter  showed  William  Marshall  with  his  arm 
round  the  neck  of  his  partner  in  life,  Katie 
O'Neil.  That  illustration  is  a  remarkable 
photo   in    many   respects :    in    Mr   David    Mac- 


'■'•  Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages."         48 7 

Ritchie's  Ancient  and  Modern  Britons,  p.  397, 
we  find  : 

"  In  the  century  preceding  this  discovery  of  a 
trans-Atlantic  '  White  Man's  Land,'  the  kings 
who  ruled  in  Dublin  were  Northmen,  the  first 
of  this  line  being  Olave  the  White,  who  con- 
quered Dublin  in  852,  'and  founded  the  most 
powerful  and  permanent  of  the  Norse  kingdoms 
in  Ireland.'  And  it  is  said  that,  five  hundred 
years  before  this,  the  'supreme  King  of  Ireland  ' 
was  a  man  bearing  the  Icelandic  name  of  Neil, 
Nial,  or  Njal  (remembered  as  '  Nial  of  the  Nine 
Hostages  ')." 

That  "  Nial  of  the  Nine  Hostages  "  was  none 
other  than  the  "  Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages  " 
who  finally  conquered  the  Picts.  Founding 
partly  on  tradition  and  partly  on  history.  Sir 
Herbert  Maxwell,  Bart.,  in  his  Dnke  of  Briton, 
tells  in  words  worthy  of  such  a  splendid  theme 
the  thrilling  tale  of  how  the  last  of  the  Picts 
sacrificed  themselves  rather  than  submit  to  the 
usurpers.  The  Great  King  "Niall  of  the  Nine 
Hostages,"  with  his  invading  Scots,  after  a 
slaughter  which  extended  over  six  days,  remem- 
bered as  the  "  Bloody  Half-dozen,"  had  hemmed 
the  remnants  of  the  Picts  into  a  disused  fort  at 
the  extremity  of  the  promontory  of  the  Mull  of 
Galloway.  There  the  Picts  made  their  last 
stand.     Niall    and    bis    swarthy   followers    had 


Katie    O'Neil    or    Marshall. 
riicito  liy  A.  MConnick. 


The  Last  Stand  of  the  Pic's.  489 

•either  killed  or  starved  all  the  Picts  save 
Donachy  the  Leech  and  his  sons,  Trost  of  the 
Long  Knife  and  Faelchu.  A  traitorous  druid 
priest  named  Sionach  tlie  Fox,  who  was  fighting 
for  the  Scots  against  his  erstwhile  friends,  had 
suggested  peace  to  Niall  in  order  that  the  secret 
of  brewing  heather  ale  should  be  revealed  by 
Donachy  i  ia  and  his  two  sons.  They  alone 
knew  that  secret,  and  it '  was  due  to  their 
possessing  the  secret  of  preparing  the  biadh-nan- 
ireun,  the  compressed  food  by  virtue  of  which 
Pictish  hunters  were  able  to  endure  almost 
incredible  fatigue  and  privation,  that  these 
three  remained  strong  and  healthy,  sustained 
by  a  secret  store  thereof.  Feigning  to  discuss 
terms  of  peace,  here  is  how  they  acquitted 
themselves  according  to  that  author's  fine 
version  of  it^'-"* : 

" '  Why,  this  is  well  now,  Donachy  Lia  !  Wo. 
could  not  kill  out  the  breed  of  you.  Haste 
thee,  man,  and  make  known  to  us  that  whereby 
you  shall  be  none  the  poorer  and  we  the  better 
off.' 

"  '  Nay,  my  lord,'  answered  the  old  man,  '  but 
this  is  no  matter  for  haste.  You  would  wring 
from  my  bosom  that  which  is  known  to  no 
living  soul  but  those  in  my  house.  It  comes 
not  readily  to  my  lips.  Nothing  but  the 
extremity  of  our  danger  would  have  stirred  it. 


49C  The  Tiiikkr-Gypsies. 

Give  me  but  a  little  time  to  reflect  and  prepare 
myself.' 

"  '  Such  time  thou  shalt  have  as  I  give  the  old 
wolf  when  my  hound  is  at  his  throat  !'  excluimed 
the  King  furiously,  while  a  flush  deepened  on 
his  brow,  the  darker  in  contrast  with  the  gleam 
of  his  pale  blue  eyes.  'What!  a  rebel  taken 
with  arms  in  your  hands,  and  you  dare  to  talk 
to  me  of  time  !  Out  with  it  at  once,  dog  of  a 
Leech,  or  by  the  bloody  eye  of  Eochy  Mac- 
Luchta,  thou  shalt  die  a  thousand  deaths  !' 

"  '  You  are  the  conqueror,  O  King.'  replied 
Donachy,  bowing  his  grey  head,  '  and  with  the 
conqueror  rests  the  power.  Your  will  shall  be 
done,  though  it  may  not  be  from  my  lips  that 
you  learn  the  secret.  Life  is  well-nigh  sped 
with  me  \  it  is  not  worth  buying.  But  my  sons 
there  are  young  men  ;  the  light  of  day  is  still 
dear  to  them.  They  know  my  secret.  Trost 
of  the  Long  Knife,  my  eldest  born,  is  willing  to 
buy  our  lives  by  revealing  the  secret.'  Niall 
clutched  the  slat-ii-eanchann  as  if  about  to  dash 
out  the  brains  of  him  who  dared  thus  parley 
with  him  :  but  his  cupidity  got  the  better  of  his 
ire,  for  this  famous  secret  of  heather  ale  had 
long  been  the  source  of  much  of  Crindal's 
wealth. 

"  '  Let  Trost  speak  then  !'  roared  the  King,. 
'  and  let  his  words  be  few.     And  look  you,  ye 


492  The  Tiiikler-Gypiies. 

dogs  !  if  any  falsehood  is  attempted,  I  swear 
by  the  Rock  of  Cashel  that  death  is  the  least 
thing  ye  shall  suffer.  Ye  shall  be  torn  piece- 
meal with  hot  pincers  !' 

"  '  My  words  shall  be  few,  Niall,'  said  Trost. 
'  Life  is  sweet,  and  for  nothing  less  would  1 
part  with  what  I  have  vowed  to  die  rather  than 
reveal ;  but  none  of  my  race  must  live  to  see 
my  shame.  See  here,  King  Niall,  before  I 
speak,  my  father  and  my  brother  must  be  taken 
to  yonder  brow  and  cast  into  the  sea  !  I  have 
spoken.' 

"  'Ho,  ho  1'  laughed  Niall,  '  be  it  as  you  will. 
It  is  a  strange  request,  but  one  easily  granted.' 
He  made  a  sign  to  some  spearmen,  who 
l)romptly  seized  the  defenceless  men  and  bore 
them  to  the  brink  of  the  cliff.  The  crowd 
pressed  round,  bloodthirsty  Sionach  foremost 
of  all.  Faelchu  and  his  father  exchanged  a 
brief,  earnest  glance,  then  closed  their  eyes,  and 
a  score  of  strong  arms  flung  them  out  into  the 
abyss.  In  the  deep,  green  water  beside  the 
Black  Rocks  there  was  a  hissing  splash  Two 
<,-ircles  of  white  foam  drifted  away  widi  the  tide. 
Uonachy  and  Faelchu  sank  to  rise  no  more. 
Trost  looked  on  with  folded  arms. 

"'One  more  conditicMi,  King  Nial,'  he  said, 
'  without  which  you  cannot  learn  what  you 
desire.     This  secret  must  ])ass  from  me  not  to 


The  Last  Stand  of  the  Picts.  493 

thee,  nor  to  any  but  one  of  my  own  race.     To' 
Sionach,  the  arch-druid,  alone  will  I  reveal  it.' 

"  '  Three  boons  a  man  may  ask  from  a  King/ 
growled  Niall,  '  and  no  more.  Thou  liast  had 
two — the  death  of  your  father  and  brother. 
This  also  I  grant,  but  beware  how  you  try  me 
further  !  Sionach,  we  will  withdraw  a  space. 
Keep  your  sword  in  hand.  This  man  is  un- 
armed ;  he  cannot  harm  you.'  He  motioned 
back  the  crowd  ;  Sionach  and  Trost  were  left 
standing  alone.  Trost,  with  hands  behind  his 
back,  turned  to  walk  along  the  brow  ;  the  druid 
followed  him  warily.  But  not  warily  enough 
for  the  old  hunter.  Where  the  cliff  was 
steepest,  the  brink  most  abrupt,  Trost  turned 
like  a  flash,  wrapped  his  sinewy  arms  round  the 
druid,  crying  out,  '  The  secret  dies  !' — next 
moment  both  men  disappeared  over  the  edge 
and  were  never  seen  again.  A  cry  of  baffled 
rage  broke  from  the  crowd.  Many  agreeable 
visions  of  rivers  of  good  liquor  to  be  brewed 
from  the  herbage  under  their  feet  were  shattered, 
and  from  that  day  to  this  no  man  has  ever 
revived  the  art  of  brewing  ale  from  heather  "  : 

"  But  now  in  vain  is  the  torture, 
Fire  shall  never  avail  ; 
Here  dies  in  my  bosom 
The  secret  of  heather  ale."  ^2"> 

Little  did  William  Marshall  dream,  when  he 
put   his  arm   round   his  consort   Katie's  neck. 


Scot  and  Pict  Wedded.  495 

what  an  emblem  of  peace  his  strong  arm 
represented — a  possible  representative  of  the 
Picts  and  of  the  last  reputed  king  of  the  Picts, 
swearing  fealty  to  a  possible  representative  of 
"  Nial  of  the  Nine  Hostages,"  and  of  the 
conquering  Scots  who  overwhelmed  the  Picts. 
One  could  hardly  have  expected  the  happy 
result  to  come  about  without  a  protest.  Nor 
did  it  ;  for  when  William  put  his  arm  round  his 
consort's  neck,  she  uttered  this  mild  protest, 
"  Ye're  no  aye  sae  kind  to  me  when  we're  gaun 
lie  at  nicht." 

Gypsies  have  peculiar  views  of  family  relation- 
ships, e.g.^  old  Sarah  Boswell  of  Blackpool  was 
known  amongst  the  English  Gypsies  as  "  my 
Aunt  Sara-"  There  is  also  a  similar  loose  use 
of  the  w^ord  "  uncle  "  amongst  them — ^^'illiam 
Marshall  once  gave  me  the  word  "  sister"  as  an 
equivalent  for  the  word  "  wife  "^and  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  history  shows  that  the  Scot 
Nials  conquered  the  Pict  Marshalls,  it  is  a 
curious  coincident  that  WilHam  Marshall  should 
say — "  I  ca'  her  (alluding  to  his  consort)  the 
haurie  rye  (great  king),  but  she's  just  a  bauric 
mort  (braw  wife)  for  a'  that." 

It  must,  however,  have  been  a  long  time 
since  the  Tinkler  O'Neils  came  over,  for  they 
have  little  or  none  of  the  Irish  brogue.  The 
only  difference    noticeable    in    their  dialect    is 


Kelifliihill  Fair.  497 

that  they  speak  quickly  and  jerkily,  with  a 
harsh  guttural  accent. 

Tinklers  are  generally  anxious  to  get  their 
children  baptised,  and  it  is  told  of  a  Tinkler — 
probably  Billy  Marshall — who,  when  questioned 
at  a  christening  as  to  his  fitness  to  hold  up  the 
child,  replied,  "  I  could  hold  up  a  stot  if 
necessary."  Formerly,  however,  it  was  said 
that  at  Keltonhill  Fair  they  used  to  have  an 
allocation  of  the  children  ! 

What  a  lively  function  Keltonhill  Fair  must 
have  been  !  I'he  poor  Tinklers  must  have  had 
a  busy  time  of  it  between  drinking,  cutting 
purses,  vending  wares,  horse-dealing,  allocating 
their  children,  and  stealing.  In  that  last 
department  the  Gypsies  hold  that  they  steal 
under  divine  authority,  but  there  are  others 
besides  Gypsies  who  shelter  themselves  behind 
the  Deity  when  performing  acts  of  dishonesty. 
The  following  story  is  told  of  a  farmer  who 
invoked  the  Deity  to  help  him — in  case  of 
extremity — to  score  a  success  in  cheating. 
The  farmer  had  been  conducting  family  worship 
on  the  morning  of  a  certain  Keltonhill  Fair  day, 
and  this  is  said  to  have  been  the  tenor  of  his 
prayer^'-" :  "  Oh  Lord,  again  the  great  day  of 
Keltonhill  Fair  has  come  round.  Let  us  go  in 
hope  and  come  back  in  pleasure,  neither 
cheating  nor  being  cheated,  but  raither  by  the 

32 


498  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

raitherest  gie  the  cheat  than  get  it."  The  poor 
Tinklers  would  require  to  have  recourse  to  their 
cutest  dodges  to  draw  level  with  such  a  keen 
blade  as  that  old  farmer  must  have  been. 

Tinklers   have  as  a  rule   very  loose  notions 
about  matrimony.      Even  the  customs  of  jump- 
ing over  a  budget  to  constitute  marriage,  or  of 
breaking  the  marital  knot  over  a  dead  horse  are 
now  almost  unknown.     Mr  David  MacRitchie, 
quoting  from  a  description  supplied  by  an  Irish 
lady,  gives  particulars  of  a  system  of  exchanging 
wives  common  amongst  Irish  Tinklers — proving 
that   polygamous   habits   were  not  confined    to 
the  Galloway  Tinklers'-'  :   "  The  Tinklers  seem 
to  think  very  little  of  the  matter,  which   they 
designate    by   the    somewhat    vulgar    term    of 
'swap.'     I'o  the  following  'swap'  or  exchange 
a   friend    of    mine    was    an    unseen    witness. 
Tinklers  are  great  horse-dealers,  and   the  one 
in    question    was    no    exception     to     the     rule. 
Seeing  a  promising  young  foal  in  the  possession 
of  a   fellow-tinsman,   he  longed  to  become  its 
owner.     How   to  do   so   was    the   question,   for 
Tinkler  Number  Two  refused  to  part  with  the 
animal.     Some  months  later  the  two  men  met 
at  the  village  fair  in  cjuestion.     Number  Two 
had  a  very   ugly  old  wife,  with  only  one  eye, 
whom  he  longed  to  '  swap  ' ;  while  Number  One 
was  the  possessor  of  a  young  and  pretty  one, 


Loose  Notions  about  Matri/Jiouy.       499 

whom,  so  far,  he  had  no  wish  to  dispose  of  in 
the  usual  way.  But  business  was  business,  and 
so  good  an  opportunity  was  not  to  be  lost,  so 
he  offered  the  pretty  young  wife  for  the  old  one 
with  the  one  eye,  provided  the  coveted  foal  was 
given,  too,  so  as  to  make  the  exchange  equal. 
Tinkler  Number  Two  demurred,  but  over  a  few^ 
friendly  glasses  the  bargain  was  concluded. 
He  got  the  young  wife,  and  gave  in  exchange 
the  foal  and  the  '  old  woman,'  as  he  called  her. 
In  all  these  '  swaps,'  horses,  money,  so  much 
whisky,  perhaps  a  new  budget,  or  a  suit  of 
clothes,  form  part  of  the  exchange." 

As  a  connecting  link  between  Billy  Marshall 
and  the  present  generation,  we  shall  now  record 
some  information  about  a  few  of  the  clan  who 
have  lived  their  lives,  and  departed  since  his 
■day  : 

Some  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago  a  well-known 
figure  in  the  Thornhill  district  was  Moses 
Marshall,  one  of  the  Kilmaurs  breed  of 
Marshalls.  About  that  date  he  would  be 
about  sixty  years  of  age.  He  walked  very 
erect,  and  was  invariably  dressed  with  a  frock 
coat  having  large  white  buttons.  At  that  time 
he  had  a  good  grey  horse,  and  mostly  a  donkey 
as  well.  He  was  always  spoken  of  as  one  of 
the  most  respectable  of  the  Tinklers.  Once  or 
twice  every  year  he  camped  with  his  wife  and 


500  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

family  (of  whom  there  appear  to  liave  been 
three  sons — John,  William,  and  Charles)  some- 
times at  the  "  Wee  Wood  "  near  Campleslacks, 
and  sometimes  at  the  foot  of  Crichope  Linn, 
both  in  Closeburn  parish.  A  favourite  place  of 
call  during  those  visits  was  William  Martin's 
"  Smiddy,"  where  he  was  wont  to  give  great 
amusement  by  the  yarns  he  told.  There  used 
to  be  a  fair  at  Wanlockhead  many  years  ago,  at 
which  the  cottagers  sold  their  cows  at  the  end  of 
the  .sea.son,  not  being  able  to  winter  them.  On 
one  occasion  there  was  a  large  gathering,  and  the 
Tinklers  w^ere  well  represented — the  Kennedies,^ 
Baxters,  and  Moses  Marshall,  with  his  followers, 
being  there.  Moses  was  a  steady  man,  but  the 
others  had  taken  drink,  commenced  to  fight, 
and  wanted  to  draw  Moses  into  the  quarrel. 
He  got  hold  of  an  old  "hame  blade"  (part  of 
horse  collar)  and  laid  about  him  right  and  left, 
to  the  terror  of  all  around,  and  .speedily  cowed 
his  assailants.  The  old  smith  having  been  at 
the  fair  buying  a  cow  was  an  eye  witness,  and 
used  to  delight  in  relating  this  story.  He  said 
the  thrashing  of  the  Kennedies  and  Ba.xters  by 
Moses  was  like  Samson  slaying  the  Philistines.'' 
Another  link  of  the  past  was  a  somewhat 
droll  and  eccentric  character  named  Billy  Mar- 
shall, who  frequented  Northumberland,  and  is 
said   to  have   been    a    "thorough   nomad  and 


Fine  Types  of  Modern  Tinkkr- Gypsies.    501 

vagrant."  About  fifty  years  ago  the  scion  of  the 
clan  Marshall,  like  the  famous  Billy,  evinced 
Pictish  characteristics  by  living  in  a  cave  known 
as  Cuddy's  Cave  on  Hazelrigg  Hill,  near 
Chatton,  in  the  north  of  the  county  of  North- 
umberland. His  wife  Peggy  and  himself 
tramped  the  northern  part  of  Northumberland 
singing  and  selling  ballads  (locally  known  as 
■*•  ballants  "),  one  of  his  favourite  songs  being 
very  appropriately,  "Willie,  we  have  missed 
you,"  which  first  came  out  in  the  fifties.  After 
the  death  of  his  wife,  Billy  wore  her  petticoat 
and  bonnet  with  an  "  ugby,"  and  hence  was 
afterwards  dubbed  by  the  country  folk  "  Peggy 
Marshall." 

Francie  Marshall,  of  whom  an  illustration  (to 
a  former  chapter,  p.  296)  showed  him  sitting 
clipping  tin,  is  a  good  representative  of  the 
Kilmaurs  branch  of  the  family.  He  appears  to 
have  belonged  to  Mochrum.  It  is  said  his  fore- 
folks  were  blacksmiths  there,  probably  hailing 
originally  from  Kilmaurs.  Francie  was  a  short, 
wiry,  active  little  man — full  of  fun  and  frolic, 
and  never  moie  at  home  than  when  taking  part 
in  a  ruction.  He  lived  near  an  inn  in  the 
village  of  Kirkcowan,  and  whenever  he  heard 
the  noise  of  fighting  in  the  street  he  would  say 
to  his  wife,  "  Gie  me  the  paniniler''^  \  and  out 
he  would  lush  and  into  the  thick  of  the  fight, 


o  < 


Fine  Types  of  Modern  Tinkler-Gypsies.    503 

scattering  the  crowd  in  all  directions.  On  one 
occasion,  however,  it  is  said  that  his  "  sootherin' 
aim  "  played  him  false.  Francie  had  a  grievance 
against  a  certain  man,  and  spying  him  through 
the  window  one  day  Francie  picked  up  his 
"  sootherin'  airn  "  and,  concealing  it  under  his 
coat  tails,  warily  followed  his  foe  up  the  street. 
He  struck  him  on  the  back  of  the  neck,  and 
the  man  fell  stunned  at  his  feet.  Francie 
proceeded  to  make  rings  round  him,  brandishing 
the  "  sootherin'  airn  "  aloft,  but  when  he  got  in 
front  of  his  enemy  to  his  consternation  he  saw 
he  had  felled  the  wrong  man.  He  rushed  up 
the  back  gaiden,  and  it  is  said  that  it  is  with 
the  greatest  difficulty  they  dissuaded  him  from 
committing  suicide.  He  lived  almost  opposite 
the  churchyard  at  Kirkcowan,  and  his  house 
was  a  great  place  for  old  and  young  to  fore- 
gather to  hear  Francie's  droll  tales.  One  night 
a  visitor  had  drawn  a  stool  towards  the  fire, 
and  was  proceeding  to  light  his  pipe.  His  eye 
caught  something  on  the  hearth  : 

"  Bless  my  life,  Francie,"  said  he,  "  what's 
this  ye  hae  got  here?"  pointing  to  an  epitaph 
on  the  hearth-stane. 

"  Oh,"  said  Francie,  "  I  was  juist  owerby  in 
the  yaird — (alluding  to  the  churchyard) — and  I 
noticed  that  lying  an'  I  thocht  it  would  make  a 
gran'  hearth-stane  !" 


504  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Francie  was  famed  far  and  near  as  a  maker 
of  "  sole  cloots  "  for  ploughs.  One  day  a  farmer 
came  wanting  him  to  do  some  repairs  to  a 
plough,  but  Francie  was  on  his  high  horse.  He 
said  he  had  no  time  to  do  it.  The  farmer 
pressed  him,  but  Francie  was  obdurate,  saying 


Snuff  "Mull"  made  by  Billy  Marshall. 

Pliotoby.T.  P.  Milnos. 

(By  kind  i)eniiission  of  Mr  Hugh  Carter,  Selkirk  Arms. 
Kirkcuilbrigbt.) 

that  he  "  had  nae  time  for  such  coorse  wark  as 
there  was  to  be  a  marriage  in  the  village,  and 
he  was  working  da)-  and  nicht  putting  i)reens  in 
brooches  and  making  bits  of  jewellery  for 
marriage  presents."  Whether  Francie  ever  did 
wcjrk   in   anything  but   the   baser  metals  is  not 


Billy s  llandicrajtsmaiiship.  505 

known,  but  from  far  and  near  he  was  sought 
as  a  handy  man  for  all  kinds  of  smith,  plumber, 
and  tin  work.  A  farmer  aptly  described  him 
thus  :  "  There  was  siccana  humoursomeness 
aboot  Francie  that  a'  folks  buist  (must)  like  the 
wee  bodie." 

These  were  all  fine  types  of  the  Tinkler, 
and  help  us  to  gather  some  idea  of  what  Billy 
Marshall  must  have  Oit'dw.  We  have  seen,  as 
an  illustration  to  a  previous  chapter,  a  specimen 
of  Billy's  handicraft  as  a  homer  in  the  fine  horn 
mug  presented  by  him  to  tlie  Earl  of  Selkirk, 
and  we  now  give  as  a  further  illustration  speci- 
mens of  horn  snuff  "mulls"  and  horn  "divi- 
ders "  of  Billy's  own  workmanship.  We  are 
also  permitted  by  the  kindness  of  Dr  Trotter, 
the  author  of  Gcilhnvav  Gossip,  to  give  as  an 
illustration  a  specimen  of  a  flat-iron  made  by 
Billy  in  1759,  and  we  now  quote  from  Galloway 
Gossip  the  Doctor's  apt  description  of  Billy's 
ordinary  avocations,  and  incidentally  of  the  flat- 
iron  :  "  He  use't  tae  make  bagpipes,  an'  horn- 
spunes,  an'  flat-airns,  an'  bress  an'  siller 
brooches,  forbye  tins,  an'  boosums,  an'  bee- 
skeps,  an'  orra  thmgs  o'  that  kin'.  A  hae  a 
flat-aim  in  the  hoose  o'  Billy's  mak',  wi'  the 
date  1746  (1759?)  on  the  upper  side  o't.  It's 
gettin'  faint  noo,  but  it's  still  heicher  nor  the 
rest  o'  the  aim,  an'  the  aim's  lang  an'  nairra  an' 


s    S 


Billx  Commits  Murder. 


.-)"/ 


thin,  but  it's  a  gran'  yin  for  dressing  necks  an' 
breasts."  We  are  informed  that,  despite  its 
being  a  century  and  a  half  old,  the  i'on  is  still 
in  daily  use,  and  that  Mrs  Trotter  cannot  be 
tempted  to  hang  it  on  the  drawing-room  wall 
with  a  nice  blue  silk  ribbon  to  adorn  it,  as  she 
can't  find  any  iron  of  modern  invention  to  aim 
"necks  an'  breasts  "  as  well  as  it  does. 

That  Billy  worked  in  various  metals  is  con- 
firmed by  the  following  tradition  which  shows 
Billy  in  a  new  guise — that  of  a  counterfeit 
coiner  :  In  one  of  the  old  cottages  at  Lagwine, 
where  the  forebears  of  the  M'CuUochs — still 
represented  there — lived,  he  was  busily  engaged 
one  day  melting  a  copper  or  brass  pan  and 
making  pennies.  His  wife — "Judy"  on  this 
occasion — was  his  helper  keeping  his  blow  pipe 
going,  and  he  was  overheard  shouting — "  Blaw, 
Jud\',  woman  I  Blaw,  or  ye'll  spile  the  folk's 
coppers  !"'  Probably  these  coppers  were  similar 
to  the  old  card  pennies  referred  to  by  Mr 
Sampson  at  page  157  of  volume  iii.  of  1  iit 
Journal  of  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society. 

The  tradition  that  Billy  killed  one  of  his 
wives  for  a  frailty  committed  with  Isaac  Miller, 
whom  he  also  killed,  and  then  assumed  the 
kingship  of  the  clan,  is  confirmed  as  to  his 
having  killed  the  former  chief  and  thereafter 
acted  as  his  successor  by  the  folknving  circum- 


/ 


%  < 


Billy  Kills  his  Predecessor.  509 

stantial  details  given  in  The  Life  of  James  Allan, 
p.  49,  et  seq.  ;— 

"  Matters  went  on  thus  for  a  season,  when  I 
was  sent  one  morning  to  rouse  our  chief,  who 
had  agreed  the  preceding  night  upon  an  excur- 
sion to  Ayr.  On  entering  the  place  where  he 
slept,  what  was  my  sur[)rise  at  finding  him  lying 
dead  on  his  shake-down.  The  floor  was  covered 
with  blood,  and  various  stabs  appeared  to  have 
been  inflicted  on  his  body ;  at  his  side  this 
(drawing  a  long  blood-encrusted  knife  from  his 
bosom),  yes  !  this  identical  knife  which  I  had 
bought  at  the  fair  of  Ayr  twelve  months  before, 
and  had  sold  it  to  Will  Marshall  the  day  before 
the  murder  was  committed  ;  but  what  durst  I 
say  ?  He  was  powerful  and  amongst  his  friends, 
whilst  I  stood  alone,  and  in  a  strange  country. 
I,  however,  secreted  the  knife  for  my  own  pre- 
servation, as  he  had  bought  it  of  me  when  no 
one  was  present,  and  I  have  every  reason  to 
suppose  that  he  left  it  there  in  order  that  I  might 
be  thought  the  murderer,  as  the  knife  was 
known  to  be  mine  :  but  I  am  determined  to 
retain  it,  and  will  on  my  death-bed  (by  present- 
ing it)  try  to  awaken  his  conscience  to  a  sense 
of  his  guilt.  He  had  for  some  weeks  before 
been  hinting  that  he  was  nearly  related  to  our 
chief  by  his  mother's  side,  but  that,  I  have  since 
been   informed,   was  false.      The  death  of  our 


Billy  Kills  his  Predecessor.  5  1  1 

king  was  no  sooner  made  known,  when,  on 
account  of  Will's  pretended  kindred,  he  took 
upon  himself  the  management  of  affliirs,  and 
began  by  ordering  the  body  of  the  deceased  to 
be  buried  the  same  night,  as  privately  as 
possible,  in  an  obscure  place  ;  nor  was  any  cog- 
nisance taken  of  the  affair,  though  his  sudden 
death,  and  the  suspicious  circumstances  attend- 
ing it,  were  well  known  through  the  country. 
But  Will  having  failed  in  implicating  me,  he  re- 
ported that  our  chief  had  been  his  own  murderer, 
and  has  since  that  period  acted  as  our  leader, 
in  which  office,  to  do  him  justice,  he  behaves 
with  impartiality;  but  I  am  positive  that  his 
guilty  conscience  renders  his  existence  nn'ser- 
able,  for  ever  after  the  affair  of  the  cave  at 
Cainmuir  (Cairnsmore),  Kirkcudbrightshire,  he 
dares  neither  travel  in  the  dark  nor  sleep  alone." 

We  have  adopted  the  plan  of  narrating  inci- 
dents, whether  handed  down  by  written  records 
or  merely  by  tradition,  in  the  life  of  Billy  Mar- 
shall and  his  gang,  and  their  successors,  because 
we  think  that  from  these  incidents  the  fairest 
estimate  of  them  can  be  obtained. 

Billy  was  no  ordinary  or  humdrum  individual. 
He  had  blood  in  his  veins  that  compelled  him 
to  be  a  ruler,  even  though  he  h^d  to  kill  his 
former  chief  to  obtain  his  kingly  power.  He  is 
unique  in  his  way.     In  him  we  see  a  dual  per- 


512 


The  Tin  k/et--  G)  '/>  s/es . 


sonage — prubahly  the  last  in  this  country  to 
represent  in  so  glaring  a  form  the  peculiar 
characteristics  of  Romani-speaking  Gypsies  and 


"Ursari"  (Bear-leaders)  of  Asia  Minor. 

Photo  by  P.  Sebali. 

the  aborigines.  Place  and  time  both  conspired 
to  cause  these  characteristics  to  blossom  forth jn 
the  person  of  Billy.     The  laws  of  the  country 


Revieiv  of  BillVs  Characteristics.       513 

were  oppressive  to  the  Gypsies,  and  were  un- 
evenly administered  by  weak  and  vacillating 
executive  officers.     To  Billy,   descended  from 


"Ursari"  (Bear-leaders)  of  Turkey. 


Photo  by  P.  Sebah. 

(The  five  illustrations  of  foreign  siioonmakers.  tinklers,  and 
bear-leading  Gypsies  are  given  by  kin  J  p-rmission  of  Mr  David 
MacRitchie,  Joint-Secretary  of  the  former  Gypsy  Lore  Soriety 
during  its  brief  but  highly  useful  existence.) 

33 


514  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

one  of  the  races  who  had  formerly  owned  the 
whole  country,  the  laws  of  the  country,  and 
particularly  the  land  laws  thereof,  must  have 
been  unbeasable.  Bit  by  bit  the  whole  country 
had  been  filched  by  land-grabbing  aliens.  When 
Billy  attained  t(j  his  kingship,  he  saw  the  last 
act  of  the  drama  being  performed.  Ancient 
commons  and  pieces  of  waste  ground  and  run- 
rig  lands  were  being  enclosed  and  cottages 
demolished ;  and  cottars,  small  farmers,  and 
the  roving  tribes  were  thereby  thrown  out  of 
employment,  homes,  and  camping  grounds. 
It  was  fitting,  then,  that  a  man  of  Billy  Mar- 
shall's strength  of  body  and  will,  and  one  who 
doubly  grudged  that  encroachment  on  the 
rights  of  the  people,  should  come  to  the  front 
at  such  a  crisis,  and  be  hailed  as  the  leader  of 
"  The  Levellers,"  who,  as  already  shown,  took 
up  arms  in  vindication  of  their  rights.  But 
there  is  ample  evidence  that  Billy  followed  in 
the  footsteps  of  a  more  notorious  freebooter  :'-■ 

RoRiE  Gill. 

"  \'ei  break  we  not  ihe  orphans'  bread, 
Nor  Ijring  down  woe  on  the  widow's  head  ; 
We  pass  without  harming  the  child  of  care, 
Nor  wish  we  industry's  meed  to  sliare  ; 
VVe  only  lake  from  the  lordly  Thane, 
What  honesty  deems  ill-gotten  gain  ; 
And  even  the  foeman's  blood  to  spill, 
Was  ne'er  the  desire  uf  Rorie  Gill." 


Billy  in  Jail.  515 

The  crimes  laid  to  Billy's  charge  were  brutal 
-enough,  but  even  these  should  not  be  held 
proven  unless  some  unpublished  records  bring 
fresh  light  upon  the  traditions  which  have 
handed  down  the  story  of  these  crimes.  We 
gave,  in  a  former  chapter,  an  excerpt  from 
the  Court  Books  at  Wigtown  which  referred 
to  the  incarceration  of  the  wife  and  two  children 
of  "  young "  Marshall  for  cutting  purses,  and 
that  record  may  refer  to  Billy  Marshall ;  and 
the  only  other  direct  reference  which  the 
Law  Records  have  so  far  divulged  is  the 
following'-^ : — '■''New  Galiotvay,  i6th  May,  1744, 
—  There  being  one  vagrant  person  named 
•William  Marshall  taken  by  the  constables  of 
Carsphairn  and  transmitted  by  them  to  this 
place.  The  Commissioners  and  Justice  of  the 
peace,  at  their  meeting  here.  Does  hereby 
ordain  the  said  William  Marshall  to  be  transmit- 
ted to  Kirkcudbright,  and  there  to  be  detained 
in  your  close  goall  until  he  be  properly  lifted 
by  some  one  of  His  Majesty's  Officers.  To  the 
Magistrates  of  the  Burgh  of  Kirkcudbright. — 
James  McAdam  Pry."  That  may  have  refer- 
ence to  the  occasion  on  which  Ciordon  of 
Kenmure  let  Billy  slip  after  taking  his  precog- 
nition, for  the  court  books  do  not  divulge  any 
further  trace  of  the  incident. 

In  mititration  of  the  crimes  attributed  to  him 


5i6 


Thi  Tinkler-Gypsies. 


by  tradition,  and  assuming  that  the  traditions 
are  well  founded,  it  may  be  pleaded  that  (i) 
some  of  these  crimes,  such  as  "  correcting " 
and  punishing  any  members  of  the  tribe,  were 


"  EDIE   OCHILTREE'S  "    TOMBSTONE. 

From  "The  Scott  Couiiti-y,'   l.y  W.  S.  Crookett  (A.  &  C.  Black). 

justified  by  the  laws  of  the  Gypsies ;  (2)  some 
of  these  crimes,  such  as  his  polygamous  habits, 
were  due  to  strongly  inherited  aboriginal  tenden- 
cies ;  (3)  most  of  such  crimes  were,  if  not 
exactly  in  his  time  then  in  a  generation  or  two 


Billy  Refuse  J  a  Seat  in  Church.       517 

previous,  frequently  committed  even  by  the 
nobility  of  the  land  ;  and  (4)  some  of  his  crimes 
were  directly  due  to  bad  laws  unevenly  admin- 
istered   and     to   persecution.        As   a    quaint 


Back  of  "  Edie  Ochiltree's"  Tombstone. 
From  "Tlie  Scott  Country."  l>y  \V.  S.  Crockett  (A.  &  C.  Black). 

illustration  of  the  extent  to  which  that  persecu- 
tion was  carried,  the  following  quotation  is  taken 
from  entries  in  the  cash  book  anent  the  erection 
of  the  loft  in  the  old  Church  of  Alinnigaff^''" : — 
■"  Sthly.       And    in    regard  the    Session  are  in- 


5i8 


The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 


formed  that  it  will  be  very  disagreeable  to 
most  of  the  parishioners  to  have  the  two  Tinklers 
of  Monnygoff  to  sit  before  them  in  said  loft, 
it  is  hereby  expressly  provided  that  the  said 
Tinklers,    or  any  in  their  name,  are  not  to  be 


r   1 1  ,< 


Billy  Marshall's  Tombstone,  Churchyard, 
Kirkcudbright. 

Plioto  li.v  T.  H.  D:ircl:i.v. 

allowed  to  offer  for  any  seat  excepting  the  num- 
ber nearest  the  gavel  wall  on  each  side  of  the 
loft.— (Signed)  Ehenr.  Stott,  Modr."  The 
two  Tinklers  would  probably  be  the  head  of  the 
Marshall  gang  and  the  head  of  a  large  gang  of 


Billy  Alarshall  and  Edie  Ochiltree.    5  1 9 

Youngs  whom  tradition  also  says  had  Minnigaff 
as  their  headquarters.  . 

A  noted  compeer  of  Billy  Marshall  was 
Andrew  Gemmil  (or  Edie  Ochiltree  as  he 
appears  in  the  pages  of  the  Antiquary),  who  was 


Back  of  Billy  Marshall's  Tombstone,  Churchyard, 

Kirkcudbright. 

Photo  Iiy  T.  H.  Barcby. 

a  native  of  Old  Cumnock,  in  Ayrshire,  where 
many  of  his  descendants  yet  reside.  He  was 
well  known  throughout  the  whole  of  Galloway, 
and  there  was  not  a  farm-house  in  the  whole 
shire  but  had  received  a  visit  from  the  sturdy 


520  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

beggar.  He  was  "  twenty  years  a  soldier, 
twenty  a  garrison  fogie,  and  twenty  a  beggar." 

When  Billy  Marshall  was  taken  prisoner  by 
the  soldiers  who  cjuelled  "  The  Levellers,"  he 
managed  to  escape  "  by  the  assistance  of  his 
intimate  friend  Edie  Ochiltree,  or  Andrew 
Gemmil,  then  a  private  soldier  in  the  regiment 
of  the  Black  Horse."  Andrew  Gemmil  and 
Billy  Marshall  both  sorned  on  the  public  and 
set  the  laws  at  defiance.  Public  opinion,  how- 
ever, has  neither  been  unjust  nor  unkind  to 
their  memories.  Both  of  them  have  had 
monuments  erected  to  their  memory  at  public 
expense. 

Billy  proved  plucky  to  the  end.  During  his 
last  illness  some  one  hinted  at  the  likelihood  of 
its  being  the  last  : 

'■  Na,  na,"  quo'  he,  "  every  pin  in  my  auld 
tabernacle's  o'  richt  gude  aik  ;  feint  a  fear  o'  me 
this  time  yet."  But,  like  his  friend  Andrew 
Gemmil,  he  had  at  l^ist  to  "  behold  the  end  o't." 
One  version^^'  states  that  "  he  subsisted  in  his 
extreme  old  age  by  a  [jension  from  Dunbar, 
Earl  of  Selkirk,"  and  it  adds,  "  L-ord  Daer 
attended  his  funeral  as  chief  mourner  to  the 
Churchyard  of  Kirkcudbright,  and  laid  his  head 
in  the  grave  " ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  tradi- 
tion affirms  that  that  honour  was  denied  to  the 
Earl  of  Selkirk,  and  Mactaggart'''-  affirms  that 


52  2  The  Thik/er- Gypsies. 

Billy  "was  buried  in  state  by  the  Hammermen, 
which  body  would  not  permit  the  Earl  of  Sel- 
kirk to  lay  his  head  in  the  grave  merely  because 
his  Lordship  was  not  one  of  their  incorporated 
tribe."  Billy,  however,  had  evidently  some 
reason  for  gratitude  to  the  Earl,  and  the  pre- 
sent of  the  carved  horn  mug,  which  Billy  had 
given  him,  proves  that  he  had  not  forgotten  the 
Earl's  kindness. 

The  traditions  of  Galloway  are  replete  with 
blood-curdling  ta'es  that  make  Billy  Marshall's 
crimes  sink  into  in<^ignificance.  The  exploits 
of  Rorie  Gill  have  been  recorded  in  verse  by 
Joseph  Train'-'-' : — 

"Well  was  our  trip  to  St.  Mary's  Isle 
Paid  with  the  jewels  of  Devorgoil  ; 
Merrily  on  from  Kenmure  we 
Fast  galloped  to  Castle  Kenned)' : 
The  currach  we  launched,  we  sailed  the  pond, 
We  pillaged  the  Castle,  and  stript  the  ground  ; 
And  this  night  from  Cruggleton  we  must  bring 
The  stud  of  the  Gallovidian  king — 
This  golden  spur  once  gleamed  on  his  heel  — 
His  was  this  baldric  of  burnished  steel  ; 
And  long  ere  the  morning  my  merry  men  w  ill 
Bring  his  best  geldings  to  Rorie  (jill." 

"  Oh  !  it  was  the  searching  bloodhound's  yell, 
And  the  tramping  of  horsemen  down  the  dell. 
And  the  shouts  of  many  a  forrester  brave  ; 
Ho  I  now  they  reach  the  robber's  cave." 

"  And  long  ere  his  men  could  rise  on  the  hill. 
Stiff  hanged  on  a  wuddie  was  Rorie  Gill." 


Blood-curdling  Traditions.  525 

In  the  Traditions  of  Galloivay  and  Mr  Crockett's 
The  Grey  Alan  are  recorded  the  horrible  deeds, 
upon  which  we  need  not  here  dwell,  of  "  Sawney 
Bean  "  and  his  incestuous,  cannibal,  cave-dwell- 
ing crew. 

Tradition  has  also  handed  down  a  gruesome 
tale  known  as  "The  Murder  Hole"  "The 
Murder  Hole  "  of  tradition  was  situated  near  the 
Rowantree  Schoolhouse.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  "  eighty  feet  deep,  from  which  human 
bones  have  been  brought  up."  In  connection 
therewith,  perhaps  the  most  blood-curdling  and 
exciting  of  Galloway  tales  is  told  in  the  Tradi- 
tions of  Gallowoy.  It  relates  to  a  gang  of 
waylayers  and  murderers  who  lived  at  the 
Rowantree  Toll  on  the  borders  of  Galloway 
and  Ayrshire,  and  tells  of  a  youth  who  had  been 
stormstayed  and  spent  the  night  in  their  house, 
and  how  he  managed  to  escape  by  throwing  the 
blood-hounds  off  his  scent.  Tradition  says  that 
when  these  wretches  were  brought  to  book  they 
confessed  before  their  execution  to  having  put 
fifty  victims  out  of  sight  in  "The  Murder  Hole.'^ 
Sir  Herbert  Maxwell,  Bart.,  in  Good  Words  for 
December,  1894,  gives  another  version  of  the 
story  as  told  to  him  when  a  lad  by  his  mother 
as  they  were  travelling  in  a  postchaise  to  Ayr. 
Sir  Herbert's  account  of  the  tradition  winds  ui> 


The  "Murdfr  Hole"  of  Tradition. 

Pilot  I  l.y  A.  M'Cormii'k. 


Romance  Coitfoumis  Tradition.         525 

with  this  interesting  observation:  "The  ethno- 
logist may  perhaps  trace  in  this  low-statured, 
swarthy  band  of  murderers  a  survival  of  the 
aboriginal,  pre-Celtic  race  in  Britain,  of  whom 
the  Irish  chronicler,  MacFirbis,  wrote  long  ago  : 

"  '  Every  one  who  is  black-haired,  who  is  a 
tattler,  guileful,  noisy,  contemptible ;  every 
wretched,  mean,  strolling,  unsteady,  harsh  and 
inhospitable  person ;  every  low  thief,  every 
slave  or  churl,  every  one  who  loves  not  to  listen 
to  music  and  entertainment,  the  disturbers  of 
every  council  and  every  assembly,  and  the  pro- 
moters of  discord  among  the  people,  these  are 
the  descendants  of  Firbolg." 

The  "  Murder  Hole  "  of  tradition  is  in  dan- 
ger of  being  lost  sight  of  in  the  "  Murder  Hole  " 
of  romance.  Mr  Crockett,  in  his  Raiders.,  re- 
moves it,  for  strategic  purposes,  about  seven 
miles  away  to  the  end  of  Loch  Neldricken  in 
the  midst  of  the  wilderness  of  the  Galloway 
mountains.  Alas !  the  traditional  "  Murder 
Hole  "  is  in  danger  of  being  forgotten.  The 
younger  generation  know  only  the  "  Murder 
Hole "    of  romance,    and   the   good  farmer  at 

seems  to  be  in  league  with  the  novelist 

in  helping  to  make  that  of  tradition  and  that 
of  romance  one  and  the  same.  It  appears 
that  some  of  his  sheep  had  fallen  into  the 
*'  Murder  Hole  "  of  tradition  and  been  drowned, 


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A  Blood  Spot  Creditabie.  527 

and  so,  despite  its  traditionary  depth,  he  managed 
to  fill  it  up,  and  now  all  that  marks  the  scene  of 
the  real  "  Murder  Hole  "  is  a  luxuriant  growth 
of  rashes. 

In  the  light  of  aristocratic  ideals,  if  Billy  sinned 
it  was  only  because  he  arrived  a  little  late  upon 
the  scene.  His  purer  aboriginal  blood  may  have 
prolonged  his  aboriginal  tendencies.  George 
Borrow  in  his  Romatiy  Rye  says  :  "  Does  not  a 
blood  spot,  or  a  lust  spot  on  the  clothes  of  a 
blooming  emperor  give  a  kind  of  zest  to  the 
genteel  young  god  ?  Do  not  the  pride,  super- 
ciliousness, and  selfishness  of  a  certain  aristoc- 
racy make  it  all  the  more  regarded  by  its 
worshippers  ?  .  .  .  .  Why  is  there  a  beggar  or 
trumpery  fellow  in  Scotland  who  does  not 
pretend  to  be  somebody  ?  Is  not  every  Scotch- 
man descended  from  some  king,  kemp,  or  cow 
•stealer  of  old,  by  his  own  account  at  least  ? " 
Thus  we  see  that  what  is  deemed  an  honour  in 
■one  family  tree  may  prove  a  perpetual  blot  in 
another.  An  example  of  that  kind  came  recently 
under  our  notice.  One  of  the  Marshalls  had 
been  out  fighting  our  battle  in  the  Boer  War. 
A  rumour  was  circulated  that  young  I\Iar-hall 
had  been  executed  for  some  grave  crime. 
Fortunately  the  Surgeon  who  had  attended  him 
in  his  last  illness  happened  to  return  to  this 
country,  and  hearing  of  that  untrue  and  malig- 


528  The  Tinkler- Gypsies. 

nanl  rumour  at  once  wrote  to  the  local  news- 
paper to  this  effect : — '"'' 

"  I  found  him  to  be  a  quiet  and  inoffensive 
man,  who  had  many  friends  and,  I  believe,  no 
enemies.  I  attended  him  in  his  last  illness  of 
enteric  fever,  and  can  only  say  that  he  showed 
the  spirit  of  a  Christian  man  in  his  last  passage. 
For  the  sake  of  his  widow  and  children  I  would 
be  glad  if  you  would  demolish  the  aforesaid 
rumour." 

A  curious  mixture  Billy  undoubtedly  must 
have  been — a  law  unto  himself  when  the  coun- 
try was  almost  devoid  of  policemen  or  executive 
officers  to  enforce  properly  the  laws  such  as  they 
were.  He  gave  many  occasion  to  hate  him, 
but  these  had  to  bottle  up  their  hatred  for  he 
sorned  on  them  with  impunity.  Others  treated 
him  kmdly — some  because  they  knew  about  his 
descent,  some  because  they  dreaded  him,  and 
some  because  he  was  an  interesting  character 
who  carried  from  house  to  house  the  "tittle- 
tattle  "  of  the  district — and  in  return  he  appears 
to  have  proved  grateful  to  them.  In  that  state 
of  matters  we  must  not  fail  to  note  what  he 
accomplished.  In  point  of  ftict,  "  frae  the 
braes  o'  Glenapp  to  the  Brig-en'  o'  Dumfries  " 
he  played  the  part  of  an  overlord — though  his 
was  a  kind  of  catholic  superiority  for  which  he 
could  produce  no  title. 


Billy  a  Curious  Mixture.  529 

Under  these  circumstances,  what  might  have 
been  the  result  had  the  control  of  his  gang  been 
in  weaker  hands  ?  Probably  the  very  crimes 
attributed  to  him  were  essential  to  terrorise  his 
gang  and  bring  them  into  subjection.  A  strong 
man  physically;  a  splendid  wrestler ;  a  good 
boxer;  famous  at  the  quarter-staff;  a  master 
handicraftsman,  and  member  of  the  Hammer- 
men's Guild ;  possessed  of  ingenuity  and  an 
ever-ready  wit :  quick  to  assert  the  rights  and 
avenge  the  wrongs  of  his  gang,  he  was  an  ideal 
leader  for  such  a  gang,  and  well  for  the  district 
through  which  they  roamed  they  had  such  a 
strong  man  as  leader.  Even  the  notorious 
"  Piper  Allan  "  had  to  admit  that  as  a  leader, 
"  to  do  him  justice,  he  behaves  with  impar- 
tiality."    Little  wonder,  then,  that  : 

"  The  duddy  dells,  In  mountain  glen, 

Lamenteth  ane  an'  a',  man, 

For  sic  a  king  they'll  never  ken 

In  bonnie  Gallowa',  man." 

But  his  popularity  did  not  end  with  those  of 
his  tribe.  He  was  appointed  leader  of  "  The 
Levellers"  by  the  cottars  and  farmers— which 
proved  how  firmly  they  relied  on  his  integrity 
and  ability.  That  we  may  err  by  judging  him 
by  the  present-day  types  is  confirmed  by  a 
gentleman  who  says  that  his  grandmother 
maintained  that  Billy,  whom  she  had  often  met, 
was  "  something  far  above  the  ordinary  Tinkler." 

34 


53©  The  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

His  life  was  in  a  manner  a  final  protest 
against  usurpation  and  aggrandisement  on  the 
part  of  the  white  race  over  the  dark.  Might 
had  despoiled  and  was  despoiling  the  dark  of 
their  rights,  and  Billy  raised  a  last  unavailing 
protest  on  behalf  of  his  race  against  the  law 
that  "  Might  (or  its  modern  equivalent,  money 
and  brain  power)  is  right."  The  kindlier  nature 
in  us  applauds  his  protest,  but  civilisation 
shrieking  "  Might  is  right,"  and  with  hands  oft- 
times  dripping  with  blood,  marches  forward, 
fulfilling  the  destiny  of  the  world. 

The  peculiar  circumstances  in  which  Billy, 
possessing  a  Gypsy  chief's  prerogatives  and  the 
tendencies  of  the  aborigines,  was  placed,  and 
the  kindly,  mellowing  influences  of  time  may 
have  softened  memories  of  his  crimes ;  but 
these  crimes,  if  tradition  errs  not,  will  always 
stand  against  him  in  the  eyes  of  modern  civili- 
sation. Despite  these  traditionary  crimes,  how- 
ever, Billy  is  held  in  kindly  remembrance 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
ancient  province  of  Galloway. 

Let  us  also  try  to  think  kindly  of  him.  As  a 
Gypsy  chief  he  played  his  part  nobly  in  the 
eyes,  at  all  events,  of  his  own  subjects.  On  the 
Tinkler  side  he  was  the  victim  of  the  tendencies 
of  an  aboriginal  race.  As  a  man  he  appears  to 
have  had  the  saving  grace  of  gratitude.    Over  and 


Billy's  Mission  in  Life.  531 

over  again  did  he  risk  his  own  neck  to  repay  a 
kindness.  In  a  measure,  Galloway  owes  Billy  a 
debt  of  gratitude  for  holding  so  well  in  check 
his  gang  of  ruthless  desperadoes,  and  we  are 
glad  the  Tinklers  nowadays  seldom  appear 
before  the  Courts  for  other  than  petty  misde- 
meanours, and  as  to  such  crimes  we,  who  do 
not  know  what  it  means  to  be  daily  on  the 
borders  of  starvation,  should  surely  avoid  judg- 
ing harshly  these  sorely-tempted  folks.  Soon 
the  Tinklers  will  be  absorbed  by  the  Gorgios 
whom  they  despise,  and  then  information  about 
them  will  only  be  obtainable  in  books. 

"  If  'if's'  and  'an's'  were  pots  and  pans 
There  would  be  no  use  for  Tinklers  " 

is  a  well-known  proverb,  though  one  not  likely 
to  harm  Tinklers,  but  gradually  they  will  cease 
as  a  separate  race  if  they  don't  cease  the  making 
of  pots  and  pans  and  adopt  more  remunerative 
trades. 

It  is  but  a  generation  since  the  pots  and  pans, 
horn  spoons,  and  ladles  made  by  the  Tinklers 
found  a  ready  market  everywhere.  Now,  how- 
ever, the  machine-made  articles  are  preferred  to 
the  rough,  stronger  handiwork  of  the  Tinklers. 
The  late  noble  Earl  of  Stair,  in  the  course  of 
his  reply  to  a  deputation  of  his  Oxenfoord 
tenantry,  who  made  him  a  handsome  presenta- 
tion on  attaining  his  eighty-first  birthday,  made 
this  happy  reference  to  the  horn  spoon,  showing 


532  The  Tiiik/er-G)psies. 

that  it  was  then  in  favour  boih  in  "  house  and 
ha'  "  :^*^  "  I  was  born  in  the  village  of  Inveresk. 
My  father  was  then  that  highly  respectable  but 
generally  impecunious  individual  best  known  in 
Scotland  as  '  Jock,  the  Laird's  brither,'  and  he 
then  occupied  a  small  house  in  Inveresk.  We 
often  hear  a  wealthy  man  spoken  of  figuratively 
as  having  been  born  with  a  silver  spoon  in  his 
mouth.  Well,  when  I  first  appeared  upon  the 
scene  at  Inveresk  one  fine  '  Hunt  the  Gowk ' 
mornmg — for  I  was  born  on  that  auspicious  day 
— I  don't  think  we  had  much  to  do  with  silver 
spoons,  as  the  earliest  thing  I  can  remember  is 
supping  my  parritch  with  a  horn  one.  This  was 
deeply  impressed  on  my  memory  from  the  fact 
that  it  had  a  whistle  at  one  end  of  it.  I  never 
could  discover  what  this  was  intended  for.  If 
it  had  to  do  with  '  \Vhistle  and  I'll  come  tae 
ye,  my  lad,'  it  was  a  great  failure,  as  I  am 
sure  I  blew  my  best,  but  no  bonnie  lassie  ever 
responded.  I  soon,  however,  found  out  the  use 
of  the  other  end  of  the  spoon.  I  have  been 
told  that  I  used  it  vigorously  and  whiles  grat 
for  mair." 

The  photo  of  the  Perthshire  and  Argyleshire 
Tinklers  contains  an  excellent  homily  on  life. 
That  picture  was  obtained  just  after  they  had 
been  out  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the 
heaviest  rain  we  can  recollect  to  have  fallen  in 
Galloway — with  only  a  tattered  tent  to  protect 


Happy  in  Hardship.  533 

them  by  night.  We  had  met  them  on  the  road, 
and  as  we  conversed  about  their  hfe,  manners, 
customs,  and  language  the  sun  broke  through 
the  clouds  and  the  photo  was  then  taken. 
Could  we,  who  enjoy  so  many  of  the  luxuries  of 
life,  look  so  happy  after  enduring  such  hardship 
— probably  with  the  pangs  of  hunger  thrown  in  ? 

"  My  children  are  huns^ry — hungry — wungry  ; 

They're  dying  of  the  bitter  cold  —diddle  diddle  dum. 

All  night  we're  a-cryin' — for  a  bit  o'  bread  a-dyin'. 
My  babes  ha'e  got  no  mother — nor  father — nolher. 
Certainly  I  should  die  but  for  my  master  standing  by.  '"i-"S 

That  typical  open-road  picture  with  the  dear 
little  fellow  chattuig  away  with  the  cuddy  and 
the  whole  company  smiling  and  unconscious  of 
their  sordid  conditions,  proves  the  infinite 
elasticity  of  human  nature.  Luxury  often  kills 
happiness,  and  yet  these  poor  unpampered  folks 
can  smile  delightfully  whilst  undergoing  the 
direst  hardships.  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  in 
his  "Apology  for  Idlers,"  records  a  delightful 
incident  about  a  ragged,  barefoot  boy  running 
down  the  street  after  a  marble  with  so  jolly  an 
air  that  he  set  every  one  he  passed  into  a  good 
hiiuiour.  Oh  that  we  might  all  bear  in  mind 
the  pleading  of  the  sightless  eyes  of  that  poor 
Tinkler  grannie  and  that  triumphant  smile  on 
the  Tinklers'  faces  1  It  would  help  each  of  us 
to  be  more  cheerful  and  contented  with  his  own 
lot.     If  we    who  luxuriate    wish    to    avert   the 


Perthshire  and  Argyueshire  Tinkler?. 

(Stewarts  and  Campbells.) 


A.  MCoiiiiick. 


^--{^iMy^^\^^k 


Tinklers   Redeefiiim^  Features. 


^o:) 


natural  growth  of  socialism  we  ought  to  bestir 
ourselves  by  bestowing  more  in  the  shape  of 
charity  and  legislation  on  poor  folks  such  as 
they. 

In  conclusion,  our  feelings  and  wishes  about 
Billy  Marshall,  the  most  notorious  and  note- 
worthy of  the  Tinklers,  may  best  be  given 
expression  to  in  the  equivocal  language  of  his 
own  favourite  toast  : 

"  May  ne'er  waur  be  among  us." 

And  if  we,  who  are  both  differently  constituted 
and  differently  circumstanced  from  the  Tinklers, 
wish  to  break  down  the  barrier  of  reserve  which 
prevents  all  improvement  in  the  condition  of 
these  poor  people,  we  must  lay  to  heart  the  well- 
balanced  judgment  of  our  greatest   analyst   of 

character  :  ^■" 

"  Tinkler-Gypsies. 

How  simple  they  are,  on  a  background 
of  our  better  qualities,  as  far  as  poverty  can 
allow.  But  it  keeps  them  closer  to  Nature 
than  we  are;  so  they  should  be  cared  for 
charitably  by  those  who  love  our  Mother. 
Georse  MeredUh." 


THE  TINKLERS'  WADDIN\ 


Live  I 'J. 


aE^h^;.>^-T7^f^h^,=^^E^ 


s 


In  June,  when  broom  m    b!oom  was  scsn,    And       brad-:en    waved     fu' 


^^^^^^^^S 


fresh        and    green,     And      warm       the      sun,         wi'       sil 


^fe^^^^^^^^ 


i=E 


=S=^- 


-:^$ 


nd     glens       did        gladden,  O  ;     Ac         day         up    •    o:)         the 


i;5;EEg::^;^e;^=§Eg!EEgEgEE§EEp 


s 


Border  bent.       The  tinklers        pitch'U     their    £ip     -     sv        lent,        And 


auld  and  young,  wi'   ae        consent,     Resolved        to     l-^ud     a      v.'^ddin',         O 

Chorus. 


^m^^^^m 


DiiTim  day         doo        a      day,  Dirrim       doo       a       da       ^ee,      C, 


^^^^^^^^^ 


;y        dco      a    day,      UoorAy       ^•^'  '-^    tinkers"    waJdin'.         0. 

In  June,  when  broom  in  bloom  was  seen, 
And  bracken  waved  fu'  fresh  and  green, 
And  warm  the  sun,  wi'  silver  sheen, 

The  hills  and  glens  did  gladden,  O  ; 
Ae  day,  upon  the  Border  bent, 
The  Tinklers  pitch'd  their  Gypsy  tent. 
And  auld  and  young,  wi'  ae  consent, 
•     Resolved  to  baud  a  waddin',  O. 

Dirrim  day  doo  a  day, 

Dirrim  doo  a  da  dee,  O, 
Dirrim  day  doo  a  day, 

Hooray  for  the  Tinklers'  waddin,  O. 


The  Tinkler^'  Waddbt'.  537 

The  bridegroom  was  wild  Norman  Scott, 
Wha  thrice  had  broke  the  nuptial  knot, 
And  ance  was  sentenced  to  be  shot 

For  Ijreach  o'  martial  orders,  O. 
His  pleesome  joe  was  Madge  M'Kell, 
A  spaewife  match  for  Nick  himsel'. 
Wi'  clamour,  cantrip,  charm,  and  spell 

She  frichted  bailh  the  Borders,  O. 


Nae  priest  was  there,  wi'  solemn  face, 
Kae  clerk  to  claim  o'  crowns  a  brace  ; 
The  piper  and  fiddler  played  the  grace 

To  set  their  gabs  a-steerin',  O. 
'Mang  beef  and  mutton,  pork  and  veal, 
'Mang  paunches,  plucks,  and  fresh  cow-heel, 
Fat  haggises,  and  cauler  jeel. 

They  clawed  awa"  careerin',  O. 

Fresh  salmon,  newly  taen  in  Tweed, 
Saut  ling  and  cod  o'  Shetland  breed, 
They  worried,  till  kvtes  were  like  to  screed, 

'Mang  flagons  and  flasks  o'  gravy,  O. 
There  was  raisin-kail  and  sweet-milk  saps. 
And  ewe-milk  cheese  in  whangs  and  flaps, 
And  they  rookit,  to  gust  their  gabs  and  craps, 

Kicht  mony  a  cadger's  cavie,  O. 

The  drink  flew  round  in  wild  galore, 
And  soon  upraised  a  hideous  roar, 
Blithe  Comus  ne'er  a  queerer  core 

Saw  sealed  round  his  table,  O. 
They  drank,  they  danced,  they  swore,  they  sang. 
They  quarrell'd  and  'greed  the  hale  day  lang. 
And  the  wranglin'  that  rang  amang  the  thrang 

Wad  match'd  the  tongues  o'  Babel,  O. 

The  drink  gaed  dune  before  their  droolh, 
That  vexed  baith  monv  a  maw  and  niooth. 
It  damp"d  the  fire  o'  age  and  youth. 

And  every  breast  did  sadden,  O  ; 
Till  three  stout  loons  flew  ower  the  fell. 
At  risk  o"  life,  their  drouth  to  quell. 
And  robb'd  a  neebourin'  smuggler's  stell 

To  carry  on  the  waddin',  O. 


538  The  Tinklers'  Waddin  . 

Wi"  thunderin'  shouts  ihey  hailed  ihem  back 
To  broacli  the  barrels  they  werena  slack, 
While  the  fiddler's  plane-tree  leg  they  brak' 

For  playin'  "  Fareweel  to  Whisky,  O.  ' 
Delirium  seized  the  'roarous  thrang. 
The  bagpipes  in  the  fire  they  flang, 
And  sowtherin'  aims  on  riggin's  rang  : 

The  drink  play'd  siccan  a  plisky,  O. 


The  sun  fell  laich  owre  Sohvay  banks. 
While  on  they  plied  their  roughsome  pranks, 
And  the  stalwart  shadows  o'  their  shanks, 

Wide  ower  the  niuir  were  spreadin',  O. 
Till,  heads  and  thraws,  aniang  the  whins. 
They  fell  wi"  broken  brows  and  shins, 
And  sair  craist  banes  filled  mony  skins, 

To  close  tlie  Tinklers'  waddin',  C). 


(By  kind  permission  of  Mr  Alexamli-i-  Ganln-r.  ijublisher,  Paisl.-y- 


APPENDIX. 


Note  on  *^  Shivering:  the  back-Iill/ 


The  following  instructive  excerpt  is  taken  from  Mr  D. 
MacRitchie's  article  on  "  The  Proof  Sheets  of  '  \\.&A.- 
^2inx\-AQ\.,''"  Long/nail's  Magazine,  March,  1900: 

"  .  .  .  .  One  detail  overlooked  by  Mr  Lang  is  that 
Scott  did  not  refer  to  Steenie  Steenson  as  having  '  the 
finest  finger  for  the  back-lilt,'  but  for  the  '  back-////.' 
There  is  no  doubt  about  this,  for  the  marginal  addition 
is  written  wilJi  unusual  clearness,  and,  moreover,  it  was 
so  printed  in  the  first  edition  of  the  novel.  Indeed,  Dr 
Jamieson,  in  his  Scottish  Dictionary,  quotes  that  very 
passage  as  one  of  the  examples  of  the  use  of  '  lill.' 
There  seems  to  have  been  a  good  deal  of  confusion 
between  '  lill '  and  '  lilt '  for  a  very  long  time,  as  far  back 
as  The  Book  of  the  Hoivlat,  wherein  there  is  mention  of 
the  '  lilt-pype.'  Possii)ly  this  confusion  is  due  to  the 
printers.  At  any  rate  it  is  beyond  question  that  the 
'  lill-pipe'  was  the  bag-pipe,  and  that  both  that  name  and 
the  companion  '  doudle-sack  '  (whence  the  adjective  sack- 
■doudling  in  Wandering  Willie's  Tale)  are  derived  from 
the  same  source  as  the  Dutch  liillcpijp  and  doedelzak.  It 
would  be  out  of  place  here  to  enter  further  into  the  com- 
plications of  '  lill '  and  '  lilt,'  but  as  it  is  certain  that 
Scott  used  the  first  of  these  forms  in  the  passage  referred 
to,  the  spelling  '  lilt '  ought  to  disappear  from  all  future 
editions  of  '  Redgaunllet.'  " 


LIST   OF  AUTHORITIES. 


No.  Page, 

1.  BlackuDOOifs  Edinburgh  Magazine,  \o\.  I.,  p.  462       7 

2.  Guy    Mannering  —  additional    Prefatory    Note 

(Adam  and  Charles  Black,  1902)        18 

3.  Scots  Magazine  for  1792,  pp.  621-622    ...     20  and  35 

4.  Paterson's  Memoir  of  Train  (1S57),  pp.  129  and 

149-151 20 

5.  Old    Statistical    Account,    vol.    I.,    p.    57,    and 

vol.  VI.,  p.  102  ..  ...  ..  ...      20 

6.  New    Statistical    Account    (1845)    for    Kirkcud- 

brightshire—  Minnigaff  parish,  p.  118  ...     23 

7.  Heron's  Observations  made  in  a  Journey  through 

the  Western  Counties  of  Scotland  (1792), 
vol.  II.,  p.  257,  ct  seq.  ...  ...  ...     23 

8.  Feu  Contract  between  Patrick  Heron  of  Heron, 

Esq.,  and  William  Mar.shall,  brazier  in  Moni- 
gaff,  dated  21st  Nov.,  1766  ;  and  Disposition 
and  Assignation  by  William  Marshall,  brazier 
and  feuar  in  Moneygoff,  in  favour  of  James 
Jamieson,  watchmaker  in  Newton-Stewart, 
dated  21st  March,  1792  ...  ...  ...     25 

9.  History  of  the  Parish  of  Minnigaff,  by  James  G. 

Kinna,  p.  73     ...  ...  ...  ...  ...      26 

10.  Introduction  to  the  late  F.  H.  Groome's  Gypsy 

Folk-tales,  p.  .xxvii.      ...  ...  ...  ...      28 

11.  Glasgow    Eveniiio    News     article     on     "The 

Whistling  Maid  "  29 

12.  Journal  of  the  Gyp.sy  Lore  Society  (ist  Series), 

vol.  III.,  p.  180  ...  ...  ...  ...     29 

13.  F.  H,  Groome's  Gypsy  Folk-tales,  pp.  59  and  61     29 

14.  Journal  of  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society,  vol.  I.,  p.  253     31 

15.  Do.  do.,  vol.  I.,  p.  120     32 

16.  Aylwin — Illustrated  Edition  (Hurst  &  Blackett), 

by  Theodore  Watts-Dunton,  p.  142...         ...     32 

17.  Ancient  and   Modern    Britons,    2   vols    (Kegan 

Paul,  Trench,  &  Co.),  by  David  MacRitchie     32 

18.  An  Ordinary  of  Scottish   Arms,  by  Sir  James 

Balfour  Paul  ;   Lyon  King  of  Arms,  p.    197, 

et  se<i 33. 


A/>/>endix. 


No. 


PaKe. 


19.  New    Annual    Register    (1792),    vol.    XXXI\\, 

part  2,  p.  47        36 

20.  The    Life    of  James   Allan,   by  Andrew  Wight 

{1S18),  p.  43,  et  se<} 40 

21.  The  Gallovidian  Encyclopaedia  (1824),  hy  Mac- 

taggart,  p.  66,  f/ 5^y 40 

22.  Additional  ( Prefatory)  Note  to  Guy   Mannering, 

by  Sir  Walter  Scott      ...         ...         ...          ...  40 

23.  The  Life  of  James  Allan,  p.  45   ..           ...          ...  42 

24.  Book    of   Galloway,    1745     {Gallozvay    Gazette, 

1882),  p.  25        .' 46 

25.  The  IIereditar\-  Sheriffs  of  Galloway,   vol.    IL, 

P-  251      ...  '       ' 51 

26.  History    of    Dumfries    and    Galloway,    by    Sir 

Herbert  Maxwell,  Bart.,  M.  P.,  p.  303          ...  51 

27.  Memoir  of  Joseph  Train,  p.  149            ...         ...  51 

28.  History  of  Galloway  (Nicholson's),  by  Rev.  W. 

MacKenzie  (1841),  vol.  H.,  p.  399  ...  53-56 

29.  The  Gallovidian  Encyclopedia,  p.  292...         ...  56 

30.  History  of  Dumfries  and  Galloway,  p.  322       ...  60 

31.  The  Gallovidian  Encyclopaedia,  p.  142...         ...  62 

32.  The  Additional  (Prefatory)  Note  to  Guy  Manner- 

ing, p.  19           62 

33.  Memoir  of  Joseph  Train,  p.  185...         ...         ...  62 

34.  Galloway  Glimpses,  by  A.  W.,  p.  \\i,  et  seq....  63 

35.  Blackivood's  Mao-azine,  vol.  L  (1817),  pp.  618-9  7i 

36.  The  Life  of  James  Allan,  p.  51  ...         ...          ...  73 

37.  The  Gallovidian  Encyclop3edia,  p.  139...         ...  83 

38.  Additional  (Prefatory)  Note  to  Guy  Mannering, 

p-  22       '         85 

39.  Ground    work    of    (Prefatory)     Note    to    Guy 

Mannering  (1842),  p.  23  ...  ...  ...     87 

40.  Letter  in   possession  of  one  of  Train's  grand- 

daughters (Mrs  Dunn,  Castle-Douglas)         ...     87 

41.  Do.  do.  do.  ...     87 

42.  Train's  ^LS.  Volume,  in  the  hands  of  Mrs  Dunn, 

Castle-Douglas 88 

43.  Life,  Writings,   and  Correspondence  of  George 

Borrow  (2  vols.),    by   Dr   Knapp,    at  p.  219, 

et  xeq.  of  vol.  II.  ...  ...  ...  .91 

44.  Galioijidian,  vol.  \'H.,  p.  116     ...  ...  ...     91 


Appendix.  v. 

No.  Page. 

45.  The  Journal  of  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society,  vol.  I., 

P-  105 '     ' 93 

46.  The  Journal  of  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society,  vol.  IIL, 

pp.  189-190  and  253     93 

47.  The  Memoir  of  Joseph  Train,  p.  65        ...  ...    103 

48.  Ancient  and  Modern  Britons,  vol.  L,  pa^je  394  118 

49.  The  Memoir  of  Joseph  Train,  p.  122     ..  ...    123 

50.  History  of  Galloway,  vol.  II.,  p.  401    ...  ...    127 

51.  Do.  do.,  pp.  402-3  .  .    129 

52.  Do.  do.,  p.  403  ...    130 

53.  Excerpts  taken  from  a   MS.  Book  in  the  Kirk- 

cudbright Museum  ...  ...  ...  131 

54.  History  of  Galloway,  vol.  II  ,  p.  435     ...  ...  132 

55.  Lowland  Lore,  by  Gordon  Fraser,  p.  40  ...  134 

56.  Gordon  Eraser's  Sketches  and  Anecdotes  of  the 

Royal  Burgh  of  Wigtown,  p.  42         ...  ...    134 

57.  Town  Records  of  the  Royal  Burgh  of  Wigtown 

in  the  hands  of  Will.  M'Clure,    Esq  ,  Town 
Clerk,  Wigtown  138 

58.  "  Galloway  Tam,"  in  Cromek's  Remains,  p  77...    140 

59.  Life,  Writings,  and  Correspondence  of  George 

Borrow,  vol.  II.,  p.  219  ...  ...  ..     152 

60.  Romano    Lavo-Lil.,   by    George    Borrow    (John 

Murray,  London),  pp.  98-99.  ...  ...    172 

60.  "  English  Gypsy  Songs  and  Rhymes,"  by  John 

Sampson,  at  p.  80  of  vol.  II.  of  the  Journal 

of  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society      ...         ...         ...  204 

61.  M'Dowall's  History  of  Dumfriesshire, pp. 560-562  212 

62.  Exploits  and  Anecdotes  of  the  Scottish  Gypsies, 

by  William  Chalmers,   LI^. D. ,  p    62,  et  seq.   216 

63.  Helen,  the  Welsh   Harper,   by  George   Murray, 

minister  of  Balmaclellan  (1868),  p.  10  ...   218 

64.  The  Memoir  of  Joseph  Train,  p.  49       ...  ...   222 

65.  Introduction  to  the  late  F.  H.  Groome's  Gypsy 

Folk-tales,  p.  xliii.        ...  ...  ...  ...   229 

66.  The    Coming    of   Love    and    other    Poems,     by 

Theodore  Watts-Dunton  (John  Lane),   p.  49  237 

67.  Romano  Lavo-Lil,  p.  249  ...  ...  ...   252 

68.  The  Journal  of  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society,  vol.  II., 

P-"8i       259 

69.  A   History   of  the  Gypsies,    by  Walter  Simson 

(1865),  p.  275 283 


vi.  Af^pendix. 

Xo.  Page. 

70.  Gypsies,  by  the  late  C.  G.  Ltland,  p.   172        ...   285 

71.  New  Cumnock,  its  History  and  Associations,  Ijy 

Helen  J.  Steven,  p.  96,  ei  seq.  ..."       ...  285 

72.  The  Burns  Country,  by  Chas.  S.  Dougall,  M.A., 

Headmaster  of  Dollar  Institution,  p.  31        ...   290 

73.  Do.,  do.,  pp.  292-3  ..   292 

74.  The  Journal  jf  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society,  vol.  HI., 

p.' 185 '         394 

75.  The    English    Gyjisies    under    the    Tudors,    hy 

Henry  C.  Crofton   (reprinted  from  the  Papers 

of  the  Manchester  Literary  Club,  vol  VL),  p.  4  394 

76.  Do.  do.,  pp.  1-2  396 

77.  No/es  and  Qtien'es,  July  8th,  1876  (5th  Series, 

VL),  quoted  in  Scottish   Gypsies  under  the 

Stewarts,  p.  5 397 

78.  Ancient  and  Modern  Britons,  vols.  L   and  H —  399 

79.  Scottish  Gypsies  under  the  Stewarts,  p.  16       ...  399 

80.  The  Gallovidian  Encyclopaedia,  p.  66    ...  ...  400 

81.  Romano  Lavo-Lil,  p.  190  ...  ...  ...  401 

82.  The  Journal  of  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society,  vol.  IH., 

p.9         401 

83.  The  Life  of  James  Allan,  p.  43 401 

84.  Kotnano  Lavo-Lil,  Y>-  267  ...         ...         ...  403 

85.  Scottish  Gypsies  under  the  .Stewarts,  pp.  20-21  405 

86.  The  Science  of  lierauldry,  by  Sir  George  Mac- 

kenzie (1680),  p.  90 406 

87.  Letter— Mr  G.  P.  MacCIellan  to  Mr  A.  M'Cor- 

mick,  dated  llth  July,  1905   ...  ...  ...   407 

88.  Ancient  and  Modern  Britons,  vol. L, p. 20S,  ('/fiy.   407 

89.  Do.  do.,  vol.  H.,  p.  36      ...  412 

90.  Do.  do.,  vol.  n.,  p.  88      ...  413 

91.  A  Hi.story  of  the  Gypsies,  p.  198,  etseq.  ...  414 

92.  Scottish  Gypsies  under  the  Stewarts,  pp.  3-4  ...  417 

93.  The  Journal  of  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society,  vol.HL, 

pp,  190-191        417 

94.  Blackwood s  Edinburgh  Magazine,  vo\.  \.  (1S17), 

pp.  54,  161,  and  618    ...  ...  ...  ..    419 

95.  The  Life  of  James  Allan,  p.  620  ...         ...  420 

96.  Scottish  Gypsies  under  the  Stewarts,  p.  2         ...  422 

97.  Romano  Lavo-Lil,  \i.   258  ...         ...  ...  422 


Appendix.  vii. 

No.  Pa  Iff. 

98.  "The  Peijple  of  Little  Egypt,"  by  David   Mac- 

Ritchie,  in    1  he  Monthly  Rcviezv,  May,  1905, 

p.  41"      ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...   426 

99.  The  Journal  of  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society,  vol.  IL, 

P-  378 429 

100.  Gypsies,  p.  213    ...         ..  ...         ..  ...  430 

101.  The  Journal  of  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society,   vol. 

n.,  p.   187  432 

102.  The  Journal  of  the  Gyp.sy  Lore  Society,  vol. 

I->  P-  353  ;  vol.  IL,  pp    204 and  321  ...  433 

103.  In   Gypsy  Tents,  by  the  late  Y.   H.  Groome, 

(William   V.   Nimmo  &  Co..  1880),  p.  149  ...   435 

104.  The  Journal  of  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society,  vol. 

II. ,  pp.  121-122  437 

105.  The  Journal  oi  the   Gypsy  Lore  Society,  vol. 

IL,  p.  62  ...  ...  ..  ...  ...   449 

106.  The  Journal  of  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society,  vol. 

III.,  pp.  141  and  233 449 

107.  The  Journal  of  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society,  vol. 
to        I.,  pp.  52,  202,  248,  249,  303,  306,  312,  355  ; 

122       vol.  iL,  pp.  62,  63,  64,  74,  79,  138,  193,  249, 

250  ;  and  vol,  IIL,  p.  67        ..,  ...  ...   455 

123.  The  Journal  of  the  Gypsy  I,ore  Society,   vol. 

Im  p.  351  •  486 

124.  A    Duke   of  Britain,   by  Sir   Herbert  Maxwell, 

Bart.  ( Wni.  Blackwood  &  Sons),  p.  408,  el  seq.   489 

125.  Robert  Louis  Stevenson...  ...  ...  ...   493 

126.  MS.    Reminiscences    of  John     M'Kie,    It.N., 

Anchorlee,  Kirkcudbright        ...  ...  ...  496 

127.  The  Journal  of  the  Gypsy  Lore  Society,  vol.  I., 

P-  352 498 

128.  The  Memoir  of  Joseph  Train,  p.  144  ...  ...   514 

129.  Excerpts  from   a   MS.    Book  in   the  Kirkcud- 

bright Museum  ...         ...  ...  •     SLS 

]  30.  Appendix  to  Mr  J.  G.  Kinna's  History  of 
Minnigaft'as  same  appeared  in  the  Galioway 
Gazette    ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ■•■   517 

131.  Nicholson's  (Mackenzie's)  History  of  Galloway, 

vol.  IL,  p.  403  ..        _ 520 

132.  The  Gallovidian  Encyclopaedia,  p.  68  ...   520 

133.  The  Memoir  of  Joseph  Train,  p.  145   ...  ...   520 

134.  Galloway  Gazette,  2nd  ]u\y.  1904         ...  ...   522 

135.  Galloway  Advtrtiser  and   IVigtoiviishlre  Free 

Press,  loth  December,  1903     ..  ...  ...   532 

136.  English  Gyp.sy  Songs,  by  Leland  (Palmer  and 

Tuckey),  p.  100  ...   533 

137.  Excerpt  from  a  Letter  by  Mr  George  Meredith 

to  the  Author 535 

35 


List  of  Authorities  for  Traditions, 


PaRe. 

a     Norman  James  M'Kie,  M.l).,  Newton-Stewart     .  .         33 

/)     Mr  William  Thomson,  "ex-CDbbler,"  Kirkcudbright  (since 

deceased)    .........         44 

(■  Mrs  Simpson,  Arthur  Street,  Newton-Stewart         .  .  47 

d  Mr  Hugh  Carter,  Selkirk  Arms,  Kirkcudbright,  48,270,275,293 

e  Miss  M'Crae,  Ailsa  Cottage,  Ayr  .....  50 

/  Mr  Hugh  Carter 58 

o     Mrs  Orr  (since  deceased)  and   Mrs  Carter,    High   Row, 

Creetown    .........         59 

/^     Mr  William  Thomson  .  .  .  .  .  61,  271 

t     Mrs  Carter  ......  70,  269,  277 

J     Mr  Gordon,  Arnsheen,  Barrhiil      .  .  .         278,  279,  2S1 

J     An  Article  on   "Joseph  Train"  in  Household  Words,  i6lh 

July,  1853  (vol.  173,  p.  479) 106 

k     I'he  Memoir  of  Joseph  Train,  p.  86       .  .  .  .        109 

/     Mrs  Pick  en,  Bridport,  near  Creetown     .         .         .         .110 

m  Mr  Hunter,  Mossyard,  near  Gatehouse.         .         .         .        112 

11  MS.  Notes  by  a  Native  of  Wigtownshire  on  a  copy  of  Tlie 
Gallovidian  Encychjpivdia  belonging  to  Mr  William 
Macmath,  Edinburgh  .         .         .         .         .         .        iiS 

0     Rev.  Geo.  F.  A.  MacNaughton,   The  Manse,  Carsphairn, 

Galloway    .         .  .......        140 

p     Courie)-  and  Herald,  Dumfries,  20th  Feb.,  1907    .  .        164 

(/     Mr  (ieorge    Hunter,   retired  schoolmaster,  Ringford,   near 

Kirkcudbright     ........        166 

;■     Mr  Alexander  Morton,  solicitor,  Newton-Stewart  .    26S-9 

,r  Mr  Alexander  Stroyan,  retired  farmer,  Benfield,  near  New- 
ton-Stewart (since  deceased)         .         .         .       270,  273,  274 

t     Mr  James  M'Guffie,  Palnure,  near  Newton-Stewart         .        273 

u     Mr  George  MacMillan,  Tinkler-Gypsy .         .         .         .       277 

i>     Mrs  Simpson         ........       282 

IV   Mr   James  Lavvson,  Marchhall   Road,    I'resionfield,    luliii 

burgh  .........        282 

.V     -Mr  Thomas  Melrose,  TliDrnhill  (since  deceased)    .  .        500 


TINKLER-GYPSY  CANT  VOCABULARY. 


!n  this  Vocabulary,  as  in  Smart  it  (Jrofton's  Dialect  of  the  English  Gypsies,  we 
have  endeavoured  to  adhere  to  a  phonetic  orthography,  and  "  the  vowel  sounds 
are  expressed  aiid  pronounced  as  follow  : — 


au,  aw  ,, 
final  i  as 
ee      as  in 


liait 
gnat 
baa 

caul,  caw 
ai  in  bail 
beet 


net 

height 

knit 

coal 

not 


feud 
nut 

cool,  foot 
foil 
foul 


As  to  the  consonants  the  majority  are  pronounced  as  in  English." 


This   space  is 

Galloway 

left  blank  for  the 

Tiukler-G.viisics. 

Tinkler-liypsies. 

useof  Cant  Word 
Collectors. 

A 

Adder 

linkie 

Anything 

okrie 

Apples 

kranhers 

kranshers,  pauvers 

Apron 

foredruni' 

Arch  (of  a 

forge 

bridge) 

Ass 

aizel,  oozel,  seefer 

seefer 

Aunt 

"sister,"-  naismort's, 
prawl 

Away 

awast,"  avree 

avree 

B 

Bacon 

guffie,  mass,  tiger, 
sawnle 

Bad 

shan 

shan 

Badness 

shannas  (?  ncss) 

Bag 

aaunie 

goni,  goi 

BaUer 

habben  kairer 

Baker's  shop 

habben  keir 

Barley 

rools 

1  "  When  ye're  binc/iii  avree  (going  away  to  a  t'itlier  tvatches  (beat)  in  the  iiwraen 
(morning),  gin  ye  meet  a  manishie  (woman)  wi'  a  big  back  burden  o'  nawkens' 
charterie  (tinklers'  tins),  an'  wi'  a  clean  forednnn  (apron)  an'  heavy  tramplered 
(footed),  ye  couldna  meet  a  sonsier  or  luckier  thing  in  this  worl'." 

•!  William  Marshall  saj-s  he  would  call  his  aunt  his  sister  ! 

3  "  Ye're  a  beenship  (nice)  ijadgie  (gentleman)  an'  I'm  jatoin  (going)  awast  (awa\ ) 
the  morn's  vwiyen  (morning),  an'  whun  I  nash  (go)  avree  (away)  I  hope  the 
country  hantle\io\ks)  wunna  be  glojiin  (laughing)  at  ye  or  making  a  cull 
(fool)  of  yer  nesis  (self)  for  manijan  (talking)  to  us  and  us-like." 


App"'''  ■'/A'. 


Pertlishire  and 

This  space   is 

Englisli. 

Galloway 

^riryieshiie 
Tinklei--Gyi>8ies. 

lefi  blank  for  the 

Tinkler-Gypsies. 

us-e  of  Uant  Word 
Collectors. 

Barn 

graunzie 

granzie 

Basket 

rooskie 

ruskie 

Beans 

rattlers 

Beautiful 

barrie,  baurie 

barrie 

Bed 

kip,'  wuddrus 

wuddrus 

Bedclothes 

kincheiis'  toggerie, 
wautheries' 

Beef 

mass,  earn  is 

carnis,  mast 

Beer 

rauniel 

ringel 

Beggar 

sprachin  manishie 

Bell 

ehaet,  yaik 

Big  house 

bara  kier 

gran-kiar 

Boat 

beerie-  bawt 

Bog 

ged 

Bone 

flint 

Bonnet 

nabchit  (cap),  scroof 
(good  lioiuiet),  caiily 
(hat),  ;;oogl  (hat), 
howfie  (nintch) 

howfie,  kaidie,  scroof 

Bookcase 

yaik 

Boots 

strods,  taehis, 

chaeterie  (old  boots) 

strods,  teahis 

Bottle 

vallin,  maachtie," 
rootlie,  rouble 

Bowl 

brickler 

brockler 

Boy 

chavo,  chau\  ie,  gourie 

chavey,  gaidie,  callach 

Black  or  black 

kallo,  kaulo 

man 

Blankets 

coories,  kinchins'  tog- 
gerie,  wautheries' 

coories,  toggerie 

Blind 

shan  winklered* 

bin  yerram 

Blood 

yerrim 

rockens 

Brackens 

Brat  or  apron 

foredrum 

Bread 

pennam. 

habben,  halin, 

„    (good) 

pennam  (sknker) 

pennam 

Break 

pagger' 

marred 

Brooch 

been-cheetrie 

been-chaet,  been  liuer 
(silver),  prinukler, 
ginn 

Broth 

shauch 

shach 

Dud 

coldnie 

Bull 

bovie 

Butcher 

carnis-cowl 

Butcher's  shop 

masser-kier 

Butter 

sniout 

smout 

1  A  good  bed  is  a  shukcr  kip  or  a  imutheric,  a  bad  beil  being  a  xhan  kip. 

■J  liiitxie  hire  is  a  winged  l)oat. 

;5  Jaio't  (drink)  cot  of  the  innarhtir  (bottle)- 

t  A  ijadf/ie  (house-dweller)  wi'  .than  whiklrrx  (bad  eyes)  an'  eanna  ilcck  (see). 

5  I'll  pa(jf/er  (break)  your  lest  (head). 


Appendix. 


Perthshire  and 

This  space  is 

English. 

Galloway 

Argyleshire 
Tinkler-Gypsies. 

left  blank  for  the 

Tinkler-Gypsies. 

use  of  t'ant  Word 
Collectors. 

C 

Cabbasj'e 

shauch 

Cat 

matchka,  nyovvinchaet 

neowinchaet 

Calf 

routler 

Camp  (or  tent) 

wattle 

Can 

drum 

Candle 

blinkin,  muiiilie,  glim 

blinkan,  blinklum 

Cap 

nabchit 

Cart 

hurley,  float 

whirl  i 

Cartshed 

whirliceir,  whurli- 
kean 

Chair 

bettiment,  yaik 

Chapel 

dahvhuddin  chaet 

Cheat 

gladdher  (Irish) 

Cheese 

keal,  chizcazin,  kaisim,' 
kaisin 

kaisuni,  kaj 

Chemise 

gawd 

Child 

gothlin  (Irish) 

conyin,  lurin,  lairin 

Children 

chauvies,  kinchen  = 

Choke 

rachle" 

Church 

cangrie,  cangeerie, 
liggie 

kanlie,  kangrie 

Clock 

tartler,  teckler,  tattler 

Clogs 

thatches 

Clothes  (old)     | 

ehaeterie, 

cleidim,  cleidin. 

Clothes               ( 

toggerie 

toggerie 

Clout 

fichel 

Coach 

postigie 

Coal 

yag 

yag 

Coat 

shuha,  schoochie.flaffur, 
tog  or  tyug/  swinger 

tog,  guttin,  hinger 

Cold 

sheelra 

Collier 

yagger 

Come 

bing 

bing 

Coney 

buntie,  muitie 

Coin " 

lowie,  lour 

Ad,  hira  or  curdee 

id,  a  wun 

nyuck,  wun.  wing 

2d,  duce  wuns 

juce  wuns 

3d,  thrums,  3  nvuok 

(Irish) 

two  3d-bits,  duce 

thrums 

5d,  fippence  or  5  wains 



_ 

6d,  a  sy  or  sigh 

6d,  midjik  (Irish) 

4d,  a  Crocker 

1  SImker  bepiuhip  haisiim  is  awfully  good  chee.se.     A  tJalloway  farmtrs  wife  says 

kaisiin  denotes  the  cheesy  part  of  milk. 

2  Smug  (kiss)  the  wee  kinchen  (child)  and  fa(k  (give)  it  a  wun  (penny)  to  put  in 

its  fenimel  (hand). 

3  "  Rachle  (choke)  that  gadgie  (house-dweller)  till  I  get  at  his  swag  (pocket). 
i  A  shukci'  or  a  harrie  tog  means  a  greatcoat. 


Appendix. 


Perthshire  aiid 

This  space  it- 

KiigUsli. 

Galloway 

Argylfshire 

left  blank  for  the 

Tiiikler-tiypsies. 

Tinkler-uypsies. 

use  of  Cant  Word 
Collectors. 

1/-,  a  hog 

hog 

5/-,  a  J  cop,  yoick, 

yowp 

yockora,  bull 

2/6,'  half      do. 

£1,  a  rij 

£5,  a  flimsy 

£10,  duce  flimsies 

Corn 

geeye,  sjreenam 

greenam,  gran, 
grannani 

Cow 

rentier,  hurley, 

routler,  bad,  banyie 

g-oornie 

(milk),  gownie, 
govni 

Cow-house 

routler- kiar 

Cranks 

jumpers 

Crown 

yowp 

yowp 

Cruelty  man 

jrad>,'ie  ' 

Cudd\- 

aisel,  oozel,  hoosel, 
seefer  - 

Cup  and  saucer 

brickler  ^ 

Cursing- 

sallachin 

sallachin 

D 

Day 

davies 

Daylig-ht 

beenlightment 
beenlightie 

Daushter 

in-awl 

Death 

nioulid 

moudit,  mullet 

Deserter 

nasher 

Desk 

yaik 

Devil 

ruffie,  "  Tain  "  ' 

DifT 

jrrib 

grit) 

Do-JT 

yucal,  jooj^al,  buffert. 

buffert,  yeli)er,  jiigal, 

\attin 

yaffin 

Donkey 

aisel,  oozel,  hazel 

oozel 

Door                   ) 

belliment,'"  jigger  '• 

belliment,  jigger," 

Doorwa.\-            1 

doris ' 

Dozen 

jukal 

jucal 

Drink 

peeve,  bumie 

pieve,  peeve, 
sgeamhas 

Drinkinsj-house 

peevan-kier 

peevan-kien 

1  "  Hoy,  would  yeja'rec  (move  on)?    Here's  the  i/adi/ie  (cruelty  man)  coming." 

2  Si/efer  is  sometimes  applied  by  Galloway  people  to  anything  foolish  or  knavish. 

3  "  Biic  for  the  cup  and  hler  for  the  saucer,"  so  my  Tinkler  friend  explained  ! 

4  The  use  of  the  word  "  Tam  "  for  tlie  Devil  or  Spirit  of  Darkness  occurred  in  an 

attempt  by  a  Tinkler  to  frighten  his  wife.  He  said  "  S/inuiian,  d'lie  deek'm  .' 
(Keep  still,  'lo  you  see  hiin'O  He's  liiiinia  (coming)  nearer.  It's  '  Tam  '  (the 
Devil)  hhijiin  arer  (coming  this  way)."  Then  the  womati  arose  and  said, 
"  Let's  iiash  (depart)  oot  o'  this."  (c.f.,  Taiid'i,  adj.  (dark) ;  pasp.,  timi  (blinil) 
— Slikl.,  i.,  43.     Taiiilo  rnati  (dark  night). — "  Dialect  of  the  English  (Jypsies.") 

ft  Chad  (>'  the  belUiiK'nt  i.i  the  screen  over  the  tent  door. 

(i  Jill  the  jitjQi'T  is  shut  the  door. 

7  Dinatj  (>i  don's  is  shut  the  door. 


Appendix. 


Xlll. 


Gallowny 

Tinkler-Gyiisies. 


nioul.vin' 
chaei 


lennam 
jeer 


kecklers,  van-as 
yarrows 


yak,  oyle,  deekor, 

winkler 
rachle 


keir 
naiskel 


trash  - 

peeries,  traniplers 


Perthshire  and 

Argyleshire 
Tinkler-Gypsies. 


quaker,  quacker, 
quackie 


slang  ■"■ 

inarn 

been 

been  gadgy,  been  cowl 

been  manishie,  beenship 
niort 


femmel 
fannie 

\ag,  glimmer 
glimmer  chaets 
glimmers 
chaeterie,  kashties, 

filshes,  yag 
matchko,  flattrin 
fo  punch 
grossum  (4d)  and  a 

wun  (Id) 
carnis 
varro 


This  space  is 
left  blank  for  the 
use  of  Cant  Word 
Collector-. 


game 


cacklers,  yerras, 

tunnock 
och 


kran 

kran,  kain,  krankair 
naiskel,  datair,  gathei 
datan(little  father) 
datchen 


been 
been  gadgy  ,been  cowl 

baurie  been  cowl 
been  manishie, 

beenship  mort, 

calleach  ma, 

bori  raunie 
fable,  famble,  femme 
granie,  granyie, 

graineol 
yag,  glimmer 


kashties,  filshes,  yag 

flattrins 
cuig 


1  Gallovidians  sometimes  term  a  horn  spoon  a  "niun." 

2  "  I'd  be  Iraxh  (afraid)  to  J'ek  (take)  okrie.  (anything)  off  her  for  she's  upeevie 

(drunken)  old  manishi  (woman)." 

3  Slatifi  the  gry  (put  the  horse  into  the  field). 


Appendix. 


Perthshire  and 

This  Fjiace  is 

English. 

Galloway 
Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Argyleshire 
Tinkler-liypsics. 

left  blank  for  the 
use  of  Oant  Word 
Collectors. 

Folk 

hantle   ' 

liantle  ' 

Food 

habben,"  pe))nam 

haliben,  pennani, 
prass 

Fool 

cull 

I'oot 

peerie,  tranipler 

Foi'tune-tellin<,' 

dukkerin'  (Eng.)" 

Four 

cair,  ceithir 

I'om'peiice 

grossum 

Im)\v1 

caunie 

gaunie 

I'^iog- 

frod 

Frosty 

sheelra 

G 

Cardeii 

garrie 

gadie,  garrie 

(Jt'iUle 

been,  been,  baurie 

been,  been,  barrie 

(U'litlenian 

been  gaugie,  baurie  rye 

(leiitlewoiuan 

been  niort,  been  rauiiie, 
baurie  manishie, 
been  gourie 

Cill 

chant  *  or  cant 

Cirl 

a  young  beur  (Shelta) 

gourie,  gowrie, 
racklie,  dillie 

(Jlasoow 

Glazie 

Go 

nash,  ja,  bing 

jan,  ja 

Go  away 

ja  avree,  javree,  ja'ree 

ja  avree 

Ood 

Been  gaugie 

Been  Cowl 

Good,  great 

been,  shukar,beenship,  ■ 

beenship,  sncar 

grand 

baurie,  ljar6,  baro 

Good  day 

beenship  davies,   baurie 
ilavies,  shukar,  davie 

Good  metal  or 

lieer.ship  niashlani 

tin 

Goodness 

.shukarness 

Good  night 

beenship  rattie 

Go  in 

ja  anee,  or  ja  andree 

Going 

bingin',  jawin' 

1 

Go  on 

nash  avree,  j'avree 

Granary 

graunzie 

Grand,  good, 

been,  baurie,  bare,  baro 

baurie 

great 

■' The  Aor;»'e  (policeman) /Wifct*  (took)  me  a\n-ee  (away)  an'  the  country  hanlle 

(folks)  a'  .stallin'  (standing)  dcekin'  (looking)  at  me,  an'  he  feckit  (put)  me  in  a 

ilnrkinent  (black-hole)  in  the  staiirdie  (gaol)." 
"  What's  a  mill  V      "The  thing  ye  get  the  habben  (food)  cot  o'  for  the  f/ry 

(horse)  or  for  our  ne>iis  (selves)." 
Galloway  Tinkler-tJypsiesknow  this  expression,  but  they  say  :  "  Grib  (take)  the 

t'i'iiiiii'ft  (hand)"  is  "  the  aul',  aul'  style  o't."     "  Orih  her  femmel  and  fek  Ihe 
■'"  is  "Tell  her  fortune  and  get  the  money." 


4  A  cfiant  n'  ijatter  is  a  glass  of  l>eer  :  a  cant  o'  peeve  is  a  glass  of  whisky. 

5  "  B  eiishi'p  davieXy  nawkena,"    or   "Baurie  detox,   nairldiu,"  is  "Good 

Tinkler." 


'lay, 


Appetidix. 


Perthshire  and 

This  space  is 

English. 

Ualloway 

Argyleshire 

left  blank  for  the 

Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Tinkler-Gypsies. 

use  of  Cant  Word 
CoUeetors. 

Grandfather 

nais-gadgie,  naislvel's- 
naiskel 

gran-naiskel 

Grandmother 

naismort's-naismort 

gran-naisraort 

Grass 

fizani,  faizini 

Great,  good, 

been,  baurie,bar6,  baro 

baurie 

grand 

Ground 

lennam  ' 

lennam,  lennum 

Gull 

feddar 

Gypsy  language 

Roniani 

H 

Hair 

faizim  - 

ballast,  faizim 

Hand 

vast,  fenimel,  famniel 

Handhasin 

feni'iielcliaet 

Handcuffs 

yaiks  •' 

Handkerchief 

wype 

plashti 

Hang 

rachle 

Hang  him 

grib  him 

Halfpenny 

curdee,  liirae 

Hare 

a  baurie  niaccam 

swishy  (Eng.  Rom.) 

Hat 

nabchit  (cap),  scaf, 
scroof  (good  bonnet), 
kaidie,   gougl, 
hovvfie(nmtch),culdee 

Hay 

faisini,  carse,  cass,  cas, 
pennam 

faisim 

Head 

test,*  block,'  cowie'' 

Hedge 

chaet 

Hen 

raunie  (?  kaunie). 

kaunie 

kaunie,  jirgin,'  kanie" 

gaunie 

Herring 

flatte  rn 

flattern,  scadden 

Hill 

granie,  montanes 

Hold  your 

atch  yer  mangan 

tongue 

stall "  yer  vvhuddin, 
stall  yer  mangan 

1  "  If  ye  meet  a  fjadgie  (house-dweller)  jcnviii'  (going)  to  his  grV/hin  (work)  wi'  ducc 

gryu  (two  horses)  to  (//i'b  (plough)  the  2«iH«m  (ground)  j«  (push)  on,  there'll 
be  baurie  Imvie  (big  monej)  that  devas  (day)— yin  o'  the  luckiest  things  in  the 
worl'  if  ye  meet  that  in  the  inorgen  (morning)." 

2  Faizim  oot  o'  the  slang  (field)  =  hay  ;  hnt  faizim  on  the  test  (head)  =  hair. 

3  "  2^he  horneys  (policemen)  are  jawin'  avree  (going  away)  with  the  yaiks  (hand- 

cuffs) to  put  on  their  fniDiiels  (hands)." 

4  "  If  ye  meet  a  carroty  tented  (headed)  niort  (wife)  on  her  bare  tramplers  (feet) 

whun  ye're  bingin'  aivast  (going  away)  to  the  tvatches  (country)  in  the  morgen 
(morning)  turn  back  into  the  keir  (house),  for  ye'll  get  neither  luck  nor  luor 
(money)  that  devas  (day)." 

5  Deek  (look)  at  his  block  (head). 

6  Pagger  (break)  his  coivie  (head). 

7  Jirgin  is  a  hen  "  ettled  to  be  killed."      Kaiii  is  a  hen  "ettled  to  be  kept." 

Moud  the  kaunie  is  Kill  the  hen. 
S  "  Stall  {sto-p)  !  there'sthe  cleechie  (policeman).     Shangos  {Wsten)  \" 


XVI. 


Appe)idix. 


English. 


Galloway 
Tinkler-Uypsies. 


Horn 

nab 

Horse 

gry,  greham 

Horse-dealer 

gry-femmler,  grv- 

gribber,  grv-fekker 

Horse-hair 

Hot 

fisho  (given  as  Highland 

cant,  ? fait  ehaud,Fr.) 

Hound 

jugl,  buflfert,  velper, 

vaffin,  seefer 

House 

kair,  keir 

Ice 

mashlam 

Iron 

sauster,  vergin 

Irish 

Dal,  Yerrachan  ' 

Itch 

reel 

J 

Jewe's 

cheetrie,  chaeterie 

Jewellery 

clieetrie,  chaeterie 

Jug 

K 

Kale 

shauch 

Kettle 

l)la\vkie,  drum,  joogl  - 

Kettle  props 

chittie  bawks,  cheeties, 

chaet-filches 

Key 

thraw,  cowie,  chaet, 

^•aik 

Kill 

nioolie,  niond  ■• 

Killed 

rachelt 

Kill  it 

nioolit  it 

Kilt 

Kindest 

cothiest 

Kinj; 

baurie  riah,  rajah  or 

gaJgie 

Kiss 

smug,*  grib  ^ 

Knife 

ehurie,  choorie,  eutlan 

Perthshire  and 

Argyleshire 
Tinkler-Gypsies. 


This  Brace  is 
left  blank  for  the 
use  of  Cant  Word 
Collectors. 


1,'ry,  cappel,  gillin, 
prod 


faizim 


buffert,  yelper,  joogl, 

>affln 
keir,  kain,  kean, 

kian,  kiam,  kair, 

kiar,  tve 


cheetrie 
cheetrie 
niaisie 


ringan,bla\vkie 


rachelt 
hinger 


choorie,  cutler 


1  "Are  you  a  Yerrachan  (Irishman)  or  a  .Sot/tccj).  (Protestant)  ?    Do  you  jan  (go)  to 

the  dal  ivhuddcn  chaet  (chapel)  on  the  Hefiilifih/ie  (Sunday),  or  do  you./rt  (go) 
to  the  caniirit'  (cluircli)  on  the  Dce»U()]iliiinit  (Saliliath) .'"  "  That's  a  real  nice 
thing  na,"  said  the  old  Tinkler  woman  wlio  utlered  tlie  al)Ove.  Is  the  word 
Yerrnchnn  related  to  Dubh  EireaniMch  ("a  black  Irishman  ")  and  Eirlon- 
naich  ("  Irish  ")  referred  to  on  pages  45  and  J35  of  vol.  i.  of  Mr  D.  MacKitchie's 
Ancient  and  Modern  liritons? 

2  A  joogl  of  monteclear  is  a  can  of  water. 

3  I'll  moud  ye,  I'll  mooUe — I'll  kill  you. 

4  Smii;/  (kiss)  the  barr'ie  inhnishi's  (good-looking  woman's)  inui  (mouth).     Smug 

the  ijourie  (kiss  the  young  lassie). 

5  Let  me  grib  (kiss)  yer  miii  (mouth) ! 


Appendix. 


xvii. 


Perthshire  and 

This  space  is 

English. 

Galloway 

Argyleshire 

left  blank  for  the 

Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Tinkler-Gypsies. 

use  of  Cant  Word 
Collectors. 

Knocker 

chaet,  yaik 

Know 

jan  1 

L 

Lamb 

meggat 

Lassie 

gourie 

Leeks,  and  that 

hotchets 

class  of  veget- 

ables 

Lice 

paries 

Licence,  pedlar's 

stiff 

,,      cart 

big  slangs 

,,       pedlar's 

wee  slangs 

certificate 

Light 

glim 

diekman,  dicklie, 
glim 

Listen 

deek,  shannas," 
pyre  it,-'  ogle  it  •'' 

Little 

been,  chico,  picanninie 

Lo^f 

' habben 

Lodgings 

nionkerie,*  loudlie, 
libbitch  stallin, 
shan  keir " 

Look 

ogle,  deek,  ^  pyre  ' 

M 

Mad 

rauge  •* 

Magistrate 

riah 

Man 

gadgie,  cowl,  cull 

bodachan,  gaugie, 
cowl,  cull,  glom, 
glomhach 

Marriage 

aukaman 

Marry 

akhoni  =' 

Matches 

spirnies 

diokman,  blinkin.s, 
diklies,  spurnies, 
spirl,  spirlie 

Weal 

blaw, '"  vairo 

blaw,  varrie 

1  "  Do  ye  jan  (know),  (jadijle  (house-dweller),  what  a  weed  hlaiohie  is?"  "Yes,  a 

teapot."     "  'Then  ye  jan  mair  nor  plenty,  and  I  can  tell  ye  nae  mair." 

2  .S/ia  (Mils  (hark) !  someone  bingin' a  ree  (coming  this  way). 

3  A  Tinkler  says  pi/re  and  ogle  are  the  older  cant  words  for  look  and  listen.     Ogle 

(listen)  the  gadgie  mnngaii  (house-dweller  talking). 

4  Deek  (see)  if  ye  can  get  stallin  (staying)  in  a  flash  inonkerie  (lodging-house). 
a  A  nhan  keir  is  a  bad  lodging-house. 

6  Deek  (watch)  the  hallo  (man)  owre  the  chaet  (hedge).    Deek  (look)  round  the 

corner  if  ye  deek  (see)  anybody  coming.    Deek  for  mj-  habben — C4o  and  look  for 
something  for  my  supper. 

7  Pi/re  (look)  at  his  barrie  test  (big  head). 

8  Fair  range  (mad)  wi'  shannas  (rage). 

9  "  Are  ye  akhomed  (married),  or  are  ye  only  gaun  aboot  wi'  that  wuniman  ?" 
10  Jaie  (put>  the  blaie  (meal)  in  the  blawkie  (pot). 


Appendix. 


Perthshire  and 

This  apace   is 

English. 

Galloway 

Arffvleshiie 

left  blank  for  the 

TinKler-Gypsies. 

Tinkler-Gypsies. 

u.'eof  Cant  Word 
Collectors. 

Meat 

habben  (food), 
mas  '  (meat) 
carnis  (flesh) 

Metal 

mashlani 

„     (old) 

aul'  grue 

Mild 

baurie 

Milk 

thood,  yerrin  -' 

yerrim 

Mind,  to 

jan 

Minister 

barra  rye,  patteran  or 
patrin  • 

Money 

lour,  lo«ie 

dius,  jius,  duce,  lewr, 
grip,  grop,  gowp, 
blunt,  hog 

Moonlight  night 

shuker  rattie 

Moorfowl 

raorghee 

Morning 

morgen  * 

Mother 

naismort 

camir,  naismort 

Mountain 



grainie 

Month 

inui,  mooey,  mun 

mun 

Move  on 

nash  avree,  jaw  drom, 
ja'ree,  ja'vree 

Mutch 

howfie,  mort's  howfie 

Myself 

my  nesis 

N 

Name 

furnish 

Neck 

gorget 

Neckerchief 

"vype 

Needle 

carthoun,  carthron 

Night 

rattie,  darkment 

darkment,  darkie 

No 

rufifert 

rutfert 

Nose 

nabchit,  nabohaet 

Nine 

nye 

Ninny 

cull 

cull,  hantle 

1  5/1  ufcej- jHfts  (fat  meal). 

2  I  have  heard  an  inhabitant  of  a  remote  part  of  Galloway  describing  curdled  milk 

as  yerrined  milk,  and  in  an  old  Scotch  poem,  "  The  Broken  Bowl,"  it  is  so 
described. 

3  Is  this  word  tlie  same  as  "  padrin" — a  priest?    The  minister  certainly  points  out 

the  path  for  his  tlock,  but  the  Tinklers  do  not  know  their  "chart"  for  the 
road  by  the  name  patteran  or  patiin  ;  indeed,  I  have  seldom  met  even  a 
Gypsy  who  knew  the  word  patteran.  Tinkler-Gypsies  have,  however,  a  simi- 
lar custom  to  the  Gypsies.  Here  is  a  Tinkler-Gypsy's  description  of  it : — 
"  Pull  a  wheen/cy;i/«^*(hand)  fuls  of  faiziin  (grass),  and  lay't  at  the  end  o'  the 
(/ru)H  (road)  or  the  cross  (<n((;is- (roads),  and  twirl  the  ends  o't  the  li<f  (way) 
the  hurln  (covered  cart)  went."  A  Tinkler  told  me  if  he  wanted  to  stop  at  the 
next  village,  after  putting  down  handfuls  of  grass  as  above  indicated  he  would 
go  a  little  further  and  put  down  three  or  four  more  handfuls  at  most ;  if,  how- 
ever, he  intended  to  go  right  on  through  the  next  village  he  would  put  down  a 
numljer  of  handfuls  indicative  of  the  distance  he  intended  going.  "That,"  he 
assured  me,  "  is  the  chart  o'  the clan  a'  the  worl'  ower. " 

4  iJid  you  fek  (tak')  ony  beenship  paplerx  and  jierriin  (porridge  and  milk)  in  the 

morgen  (morning)  to  yer  hablien  (l)reakfast)':' 


Appendix. 


Perthsliire  and 

This  space   is 

English. 

Galloway 

Argyleshire 
Tinkler-Gypsies. 

left  blank  for  the 

Tinkler-Gypsies. 

use  of  Cant  Word 
Collectors, 

o 

One 

yaik 

yaik 

Onions 

hotchets 

Ourselves 

our  nesis 

P 

Pail 

pingle,  pinkie 

pingle,  pinkie 

Pan  (a  wee) 

skew 

Parsley 

green  cheetris 

(vegetables  of  all 
kinds) 

Peas 

bobies 

Peats 

glimmer  yaks,  mouds 

glimmers 

Pedlar's  licence 

stiff 

Penis 

earie 

Penny 

wun,  \\vi\%,  hirae 

hirie,  wun,  wing 

Pepper 

hot  chitrie 

Person 

deasag 

Petticoat 

inside  toggerie 

tog 

Pheasant 

wild  kaunie 

Pig 

grumphy,  "  old  cant  for 

•grifie,  grumphy, 

a  pig  " 

muog 

Pins 

jagler?,  prinklers 

Pipe 

tchitlow,  fluffan-chaet 

cliutshie,  stiumer 

"  aul',  aul'  cant  " 

(bagpipe),  tutehie 
pluffan-chaet 
(tobacco  pipe), 
tutsie 

Pistol 

powiskie 

Plantation 

baysh 

Ploug-h 

grib  ' 

Pocket 

swag  - 

Policeman 

catch-gadgie,  naiscowies, 

bathonia,  theekie, 

hornie,-'  cleechie, 

shan  gaugie, 

kliestie,  poskie, 

reeler,  hornie,  vria 

poskay,  catch-cowl, 

catch-cowie 

Poorhouse 

grubbin  kier 

Porridge 

paplers  * 

paplers 

Pot 

blawkie,^  chaet 

l)la\Tkie,  ringan 

Potatoes 

moulins," 

neds,  moulins,  spuds 

Pot  lid 

blawkie  cowie 

1  Glib  (plongh)  the  Itnnayn  (ground).     Grih  is  a  generic  word  meaning — plough 

tlie   ground,   hang  him,  shoot  him,  throttle  him,  steal  from  him  ;  "  do  any 
mortal  thing  you  can  put  into  it.     It's  the  main  cant  word." 

2  A  pickpocket  is  a  shan  yaugie  (bad  man)  \vho  would  grib  (ripe)  yer  swag 

(pockets).    He  would  jaw  (put)  hUfeiiunel  (hand)  into  yer  toggerie  (pockets). 

3  "Bing  (take)  the  grg  (horse)  arce  (away),  and  no' let  the  Ao/';iie  (policeman)  be 

deekin  (looking)  at  his  shan  trainplers  (sore  feet)." 

4  Paphrs  and  yerrita  (porridg:e  and  milk). 

5  Weed  blawkie  is  a  teapot. 

6  Moulins  a.nc\  flattiins  (potatoes  and  fish). 


XX. 


Appeiidix. 


' 

Perthshire  aud 

This  space   is 

English. 

Galloway 

Argyleshire 

left  blank  for  the 

Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Tinkler-Gypsies. 

use  of  Cant  Word 
Collectors. 

Pound 

rij,  fliinsie,  flatter, 
claeh  ' 

Prattler 

lurin 

Prison 

staurdie,  quod 

Prostitute 

loudnie,  wapsie 

loudnie 

Protestant 

sothern 

Pudenda 

bi^^ht 

Put 

jaw  (?) 

Q 

Queen 

baurie  raunie,  head 
niort  (woman)  o'  the 
cit.v,  been  nianishie," 
baurie  nianishie,'' 
baurie  mort,  been 
raunie 

R 

Rabbit 

maccam,  nierrjfeet, 
misferret 

muitis,  l)uiitis 

Rags 

fechles 



Rat 

rattan 

raecan 

Red 

hi-colour,  '-'arnie, 
ruadh 

Rich 

been,  baurie,  bare, 
barro 

Ring 

fannie  •• 

Road 

drum,  tober,  lig 

lig',  drom 

Rock 

bar,  clach 

bar,  craig,  claeh 

Romp 

loudnie 

loudnie,  shan  goorie 

S 

Sabbath 

beenlii;htnient, 
beenlightie 

Salt 

salliment 

Ion,  salliment 

Sand 

cretum 

Screen 

chaet 

Sea 

baurie  paunie,  monty- 
clear,  barrie  panic, 
barrie  montyclear 

panie,  monteelear 

Self 

nesis 

Serpent 

lupie 

Servant 

dill 

Sell 

wanner 

Seven 

duce  (Irish  oant) 

sava 

Shawl 

niorts  plashtie,  wype 

wyjie 

1  A  clach  (pound)  of  rnoU  (barle,\)  for  the  ghauch  (brothl 

2  "  The  been  manishie  (g-ood  woman,  i.e. ,  Queen)  in  the  bi^-  gnare  (town).'    "  What 

big  paavc.'"     "  The  big  (jaave  (London),  in  llie  t'ither  watches  (England)." 

3  Tlie  present  William  .Marshall  calls  his  better-half  the  "  KinL,',"  but  she  says  she 

is  only  a  baurie  iii(n>i,-<hie  ! 

4  Mori's  fannie  is  a  ring  on  a  woman's  hand. 


Appendix. 


Perthshire  and 

This   space   i» 

English. 

Galloway 

Artrvlt^shire 

left  blank  f..r  the 

Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Tinkler-Gypsies. 

useof  Cint  Word 
Collectors. 

Shears 

snips,  snypes  ' 

sheepers 

Sheep 

bakrie,  bokra 

bakrie,  meggat, 
carey,  me,  mi, 
kanie 

Shilling 

hog 

midjik,  hog 

Shirt 

dreeper  (Fifeshire), 

carmush,  smeisb, 

gawd,  kirmush. 

miltaug  (coat), 

miltyug 

gad 

Shoes 

strods 

Shoemaker 

strodgribber 

Shoot  him 

ffrib  him 

Shop 

kier 

chovie 

Shut 

cleg,  klissen 

Silver 

lowie 

Sit 

baish 

Sit  down 

baish  down  - 

Six 

S.V 

shay  a,  sigh 

Sky 

beenlightnient 

rinnies,  beenlight- 
ment 

Sleep 

slump 

Smoke,  smokin 

fluff  an 

chitshie,  chutshie 

Soap 

pelt 

Soldier 

kliestie,  klistie,  wagliii, 

Son 

praw 

Sour  milk 

rodgered  yerrim 

Soulder 

sother 

groder,  soister 

Speak 

mang 

Spectacles 

winklers 

Spoon 

tillum,  tellum,  heefie 

tillum 

Springwell 

montyclear 

beenship  monle- 
elear 

Stack 

stogie 

Sta^jrered  horse 

megrin  ^ 

Stake 

nanwil 

Steed 

graisie 

Steal 

ohor,-*  choar,  lagged 
(Irish  cant) 

Steal  from  him 

grib  from  him 

Stick  and  staff 

kashtie,  filch,'  castie'' 

filches  (sticks), 
kashties  (fence 
stobs) 

Stick  feood) 

baurie  kashtie,  sbukar 
kashtie 

1  Maaishi's  (women's)  S7it/pes  (shears)  for  grihbin  (cutting)  toggerie  (clothes 

2  Bainh  (sit)  down  on  the  bettimeat  (chair). 

3  "A  megrin  is  a  staggered  hor.se,  or  a  gri/  (horse)  that  would  ja  (fall)  on  to  his 

test  (head)." 

4  Chor  a  gaugie  is  Steal  from  that  man. 

5  CAoryzYc/ics  is  steal  sticks. 

6  A  bit  castie  (stick)  for  a  glimmer  (fire). 


Appendix. 


Perthshire  and 

This  M"H-e   is 

EngliBh. 

Galloway 

Argyleshire 

left  blank  fr.rtlie 

Tinkler-Oypsies. 

Tinkler-C^yiisif*. 

use  of  rant  Word 

Collectors. 

Stone 

bar, '  cleuiniie,  clach, 
clack 

elach,  bar,  outliers 

Stocking's 

Olivers 

hollofers,  holovers 

Stop 

stall  - 

Straw- 

stramniel 

strammel 

Street 

drom 

Strike 

mar  ' 

Sugar 

sweetening 

inealie,  mealish, 
sweetnie 

Sunday 

beenlightment 
beenlightie 

Sunshiny  day 

shukar  davies 

Swearing- 

sallachan,  shan  mangs 

Sword 

a  barrie  cutlan 

Swine's  flesh 

guttie 

Swindle 

hing  ■■' 

T 

Take 

bing,-*  feck,*faik, 
fekkan 

Tea 

weed,  taste 

slab,  weed 

Teapot 

weed,  blawkie 

Teeth 

dana  ^ 

Ten 

dec,  chace 

Thief 

chor 

chor,  choar 

Thing,  a 

chaet  '■  (a  generic  word) 

Three 

Threepence 

three  nyuck  (Irish) 

try,  three  nyuck 

Throttle  liim 

grib  him,  raclile  him, 
grib  his  gorget 

Tick 

chuck  ■ 

Tin 

mashlam,  yergan 

yergan 

Tin  cans 

mashlam,"  nawkens' 
chaeterie 

Tin  dishes 

pinkies 

1  Mar  (fell)  the  gaugie  (man)  wi'  a  clemmie,  clach,  or  bar  (stone). 

2  Stall  yer  maiiijan.  is  Stop  your  talking. 

3  "  To  hinij  a  (jmlin'i'  (liouse-dweller)  is  to  sell  him  a  horse  for  £6,  pay  him  £3,  and 

owe  him  the  balance  !" 

4  Bing  (take)  it  oot  o'  deekment  sight.     Ring  (throw)  it  over  the  chaet  (hedge). 

Feck  (take)  a  bar  (stone)  and  mar  (fell)  the  gadgic  (house-dweller). 

5  A  ahuker  tnui  is  a  good  moutli  or  teeth. 

6  Chaet  o'  the  helliiiient  is  the  screen  at  the  mouth  of  a,  tent.     Chad  also  stands 

for  a  knocker,  a  bell,  a  hedge,  a  pot,  and  such  like  ;  and  chaetrie  or  cheetrie 
stands  for  clothes,  boots,  firewood,  scrap-iron,  tin  cans,  and  such  like — e.g., 
aul'  chaetrie  (scrap-iro.i)  for  been  lowie  (good  money);  nawkeii's  chaetne 
(tinkler's  tin  cans). 

7  "  I'm  jawin  (going)  to  the  ha1>benkcir  (hakev's).  Imt  I  hae  nae  lour  (money)  for 

■/icnnam  (bread),  but  I'll  try  to  get  it  on  chitck  (tick)." 
H  Ajucal  (dozen)  o'  mas/dciin  (tin  cans). 


Appendix. 


Perthshire  and 

Thii  space   is 

English. 

(ialloway 

Argyleshire 

left  blank  for  the 

Tinkler-Gypsies. 

Trnkler-Gypsies. 

use  of  Cant  Word 
0  Hectors. 

Tinkler 

nawkens,  needie  (given 
bv  a  Northumber- 
land Tinkler), 

skillyg-ows  ' 

Tinkler's  tools — 

borers,  elsins,  and 

punches, 

jumpers 

srimlets 

Tobaceo 

fluffan  - 

pluffan,  mishib,  thowie 

Tonars 

frliaimer  chaets  ■' 

Tooth 

dant 

Town 

g-aave,  vile 

gav,  iraff,  gaur,  vile 

Train 

rattler,  hurlie 

Tramp 

sprachers 

Tripods  (for 

chittie  bawks,  chitties 

kettle) 

Tree  or  fruit 

eastie,  kashtie,  filsh 

tree 

Trouble 

shannas  * 

Trousers 

calshes,  screevers 

calshes,  calisis,  calsie, 
cleaspis,  truther, 
cleashes,  breckets 

Two 

duce 

duce,  dius,  juee 

Twopence 

duce  wuns 

juce,  juce  wuns 

Turnips 

noytees 

sueeps,  runis 

U 

Umbrella 

buniniie,  slums 

Umbrella 

mush  fakir 

mender 

Uncle 

naiskel's  prawl 

V 

Veg-etables 

green  cheetris 

Villag-e 

vile,  eaave  ^ 

Village  (large) 

baurie  vile,  baurie 
gaave 

W 

Walk 

ja,*^  jaw 

Walking-  stick 

kashtie 

Wand 

yaik 

AVatch 

tecklvr.  vack 

iod'.:e,  tickler,  docker 

1  A  Tinkler  who  had  taken  up  house  referred  to  travelling  Tinklers  as  skilly ijoivx. 
t  Fluffan  (tobacco)  for  the  tclnttlie  (pipe). 

3  A  pair  of  tongs  are  a  pair  of  cowies  (irons)  for  gribbin  (catching)  the  (jlimmer 

(firewood). 

4  "There's  shannas  (trouble)  drawing  nearder." 
?i  A  chan  gaave  is  a  bad  wee  town. 

6  Ja  to  kip  is  Go  to  bed.     Jaic  to  chovei/  is  Go  to  the  shop. 


Appendix. 


English. 

Galloway 
Tinkler-(;yp9le8. 

Perthshire  and 

Argyleshire 
Tinkler-Gypsies. 

This  space   i» 
left  blank  for  the 
use  of  Cant  Word 
Collectors. 

Water 

panie,  nionty clear 

panie,  nionteclear, 
mire 

Waxcloth  ' 

waxie,  niarlev  (Cumber- 
land Tinkler) 

Wet  (lay 

panie  deevies,  pennie 
devies 

Whip 

yaik,'-  chupnie 

Whisky 

peeve,  romanie 

peeve,  piovin 

White 

sneepa 

Whore 

loudnie 

Wife 

niort 

Wife  and  child 

uiort  and  kinchin 

Window 

yaik,  w  inkier,  blinker, 

blinkie,  winkler, 

glue 

widdera 

Wire 

faizini,  rattie, 
niashlam 

M'oman 

manishie,  bewr,  blev.r 

manishie,  mort, 
cailleach,  blon, 
beor,  ^oorie, 
moiit 

Wood 

castie,  kashtie 

castie,  kashtie,  va.\  sh 
(a  wood) 

Write 

grib  ••' 

screeve 

Y 

Yes 

syet 

syet 

Vouno;  person 

g-ochlin 

1  A  Tinkler  described  waxcloth  as  togqrie  (floorcloth)  for  the  keirn  (houses)  to  fek 

(put)  down  on  the  lennain  ((rround). 

2  "A  shykei-  yaik  (jfood  whip)  for  i)aggerin  (lashing)  the  gry  (horse)  ;  but  ye 

manna  pagger  (whaek)  the  gry  (horse),   young  man."      Vaik  is  said  by  a 
Tinkler  to  be  kinchin's  (children's)  language,  and  is  a  generic  word  meaning  a 
bookcase,  a  chair,  a  desk,  a  knocker,  a  bell,  or  a  hat-peg,  &o. 
8  Grib  ver  furnitih  is  Write  vour  name. 


INDEX. 


A  I'aijc. 

Allan,  Piper — 
\'erses  on      . .         . .         . .         . .         42 

Marries  Jean  Marshall      . .  42,  40] 

\'isits  Billy  Marshall         . .         . .  42,  43 

The  Life  of 73,  401 

Appearances  deceiiti\  e  .         , .    263-4 

Appei:dix — 

"  The  Tinklers'  Waddin'." 
Note  on  "  Shivering  the  back  lill." 
List  of  Authorities. 
List  of  Authorities  for  Traditions. 
List  cf  Cant  Words  collected  from 
Galloway  and   Perthshire  and 
Artryleshire  Tinklers. 

A.  W.,  author  of  Gallinvafi  Glimpses    6^ 


I'.aillies,  swagger  appearance  of 

.       210 

l'.:iillie,  Matthew 

41V 

lliillie,  a           

33!) 

rai'uallv,    the   Laird    of,   robbed 

bv 

Billy  Marshall.. 

118-123 

Carholm  Castle — "  Ellangowan  " 

.       107 

lUiira  raugi  inanishi 

.       202 

Barullion,    Fell   o' — one  of   Billj 

's 

haunts    . . 

59 

^.attle  of  Hawick  Brig- 

.        414 

■eagle  Hunt 

321 

I'.ertrani,  Harry — 

'Jonflicting  traditions  about 

]05-10(i 

Pedigree  of 

.        100 

Hilly  Marshall  (.ycc  Marshall,  Billy 

). 

l;lackniorrow  tradition 

40,1-410 

'.liiid  Tinkler  Woman 

177 

lioirow,  George        151,  239,  30C, 

403,  422 

\isit  of  to  Galloway 

91 

'.'■swells  (see  Clnniunnistns). 

I'.oswell,  Silvester      .. 

.       240 

"•>  >y  Tree          

.       146 

'.nnyan  a  Tinkler 

129-430 

l;urns,  R. — 

"  Jolly  Beggars  •'    .. 

.       386 

Gypsy  spaes  his  fortune  . . 

. .       2S9 

C  Paf/e^ 

Caerclaugh,  Co'  o' 83 

Caerlaverock    Castle    resembles 

"Ellangowan"  ..         ..       105 

Cairnsniore,  Caves  on  . .         . .    71-83 

Camp  scenes  168,  172,  206,  232-265, 

293-305,  457 
Cant,  2,  5,  91-93,  178,  179,  184,  185, 

207,  208,  209,  257,  315-331,  433 

Distribution  of  . .  . .  433-495 
Cant  and  Shelta  contrasted . .  437-438 
Cailvle,  Thomas,  Stor.\  told  by  him 

about  Gypsies  . 
Carsluith  Castle 
Caution  of  Gypsies  . . 
Cave-dwellers  in  Galloway  . . 
Caves  on  Cairnsmore 
Ceremonial  purity  of  the  Tinkler- 
Gypsies  

Characteristics  of  Gypsies — 

Frankness  and  simplicity' 

Secretiveness 
Cheating,  Invoking  the    Deity   to 

aid  in    . . 
Chumomistos  (Boswell's) — 

In  Galloway. . 

Palmistry 

Language  of . . 

Glibness  of    . . 

Photographing  the  ..  242-257 

Opinion   of   Mrs   Boswell    about 

Tinklers        242 

Gvpsy,  Tea  with 247 

W.  G.  describes  a  fight    . .  252-254 

Cleugh  Head-  "  Derncleugh  "  . .  11* 
Cochrane,  the  Tinkler — 

Murders  Peter  Douglas    . .         . .       134 

Escapes  from  gaol . .  . .  135 

Corse  o'  Slakes  62 

Creetown — "  Portanferrv '"  .  ..  103 
Crockett,  S.  R.  . .  '  .  . .  523 
Crofton.H.  C 394-395 


284 

107 

261 

63-84 

71-83 

297 


497 

232 
233 
236- 
241 


XXVI. 


Index. 


Page. 


•"Derncleugh"  ■•         ■•         • 

"Dirk   Hatteraick"-(see   under 

Hatteraick). 
^'Donald  Caird" 

Dougall,  C.  S.  ..         ■•      ,,••,, 
Dou^'las,  Peter,  imudered  by  Coeh 

"  rane,  the  Tinkler 
Dumbie  Tinkler-Gypsies 


-"  Edie  Ochiltree  "      .  •         ■  •  51^^!-  ^l" 
Estgelin^',  Prof.  J.      ••         ■•         ■• 
"  Ellan'TOwan  "  resembles  Caerlav  e- 

rock  Castle      . .         •    ,  „    ■  • 
Emerson's  "The  Romany  Girl 
English  Gvpsies  in  Galloway  i'li 
Ereiiie  (VNeil  {we  ONeil  Erchie). 
Evan  Koberts  . . 


8.5 
290,  292 


232 


134 
293 


.519 
432 

10.5 
428 
265 

435 


Fell  o'  BaruUion        

Fire- worshippers       

Flv  old  Bewer  •  •    ,  ,  \\, 

Folk-tales        ..      28-31,71,120,191, 

"  .John  the  Fisherman  '    . . 

"  The  Enchanted  Castle  "  • 

Folk-tale  Teller  ..         ••         .  ^''p 

Frankness  and  simplicity  ot  Gypsies  ;>, 


59 

82 
365 
365 
370 

380 
-385 
262 


■Gallovidian  Cave-dwellers   . 
OalKiviilian   hnriidopmiM 
(xMacTajfScart)- 
Epitapli  on  Billy  Marshall 
Keltonhill  Fair 

Corse  o' Slakes       

Co'  o'  Caerclautrh 

Galloway  Gypsies— 

Train's  MS.  relatm^'  to  . .  oi,  ■ 
Ginjjs  of  ■  •  ■  •  •  ■  •  ■  . 
Brutal  treatment  of  ..  l^ 

Cute  Pleailin'„'  <if    . 
Marshall  Kill''- i'l™'"''^'"'^''"''    „      •• 
Gatehouse—"  Kippletnngan 
"  Gausrer's  Loup "      .-         •■         •• 
^'German  "  (Jypsies  in  Gallowa.\     +■ 
Visit  of,  aroused  hatred  . . 
Visit  to  an  encanipnienit  of  4 

Like  black  devils 

AwakiuLC  them 

Catechisiiitr  th'-ni   ..  •  ■  • 

Xot  Ziireuncr  nor  Limrnrari.  but 
CaUIerari  or  Chaudronmer. . 
Keasons  for  visit  of 
Treatment  meted  out  to  . . 
Excuses  ffiv  en  for  beyrsfing 
Certificated  Tinklers 
Liked  Scotland  and  the  Scots     . 


.   63-84 


1 
56 
62 

S3 

,89 
128 
132 
132 
133 
10.5 
107 
483 
457 
-467 
458 
458 
461 

401 
461 
462 
462 
463 
46  i 


Hnije. 

463 
465 
465 

465 

465 
466 
467 

467 
469 
470 
.  470 
470  477 
473 


En^'lish    Romanes    differs    from 

theirs     . . 
Photosrraphinfr,  the         . . 
Despised  the  half-V>loods  . 
Fhotoeraphinff   (^.een    Marono- 
Dammo         .  •  •         ■  • 

Often  cheated  by  photographers 
Inveterate  beg-ars 
Furore  created  by   .         ■•         ■• 
E"L°lrerated     and      unfounded 

"  stories  about  •         •  • 

Attitude  of  Press  towards  them 

Considered  sympathetically 
Independent  mien  of 
Harassing  the 
Ktvo^>-totheiranimals472-473 

^I'i^arture^ofGerman  Gypsies  . .       474 
ESiaratk^       of  Pastor  Geyer  ^_^ 

UnchiSn  attitude  of  Gorgios 

towards 
Attacked  by  a  mob  .  ■ 

Creditable  behaviour  ot   ..         •• 
Insaneattitudeof  pohce.. 
i),-.s  aliter  visuin     . .         •  •         •  • 

Scotch  and  «>^V.l'^%^,","e^"S  .able  481 
The  Uiieen  of  the,  pro\  es  ..nan _^ 
Poignant  cry  of  "No  moneish  4S. 

Better  than  they  were  named 
Decolletdes  costumes  ot   . . 
Gever,  Pastor—  t  ..  fv,.,„an  " 

Christian  treatment  of      t'''""%'    .^yy 

Gvpsies  bv    ..         •  ,   " 

Malignn'ient,    persecution,     and 

boycotting  of 

Gordon—  419-420 

Duchess  Jean  ■ .  419-420 

Mad'-'e  ■  •         ■  •         ' '  '  q^q 

Gordons  ..  ■;        3    ,  ^o,  239,  " 

Groonie,  KH.   .),  28, -9,.m^    430,432-435 

c.     •„=  '  295-305 

Gruesome  Stories 

Guij  Maunrriat)-  91-93,442 

Cant  words  ot      . .         ■  •  g_^  g^ 

Gypsies  of.  ••  •         •■     ()4.\o2 

Eviction  Scene    . .         •.         •■     ^,,  .^.,. 
Galwegian  localities  ot..         •■      ■■.;., 
BUlv  robs  the  Laird  of  Balgally  118-123 
Guide  Map  to  Ou,,  Maanenn,j 
localities. 
Gypsies— 

\nd  Soots  contrasted 
First  arrival  in  Britain      . 
Tinklers  in  liritain  before 

Gvp-v  Burn 

G\psv  Folk-tales—  _ 
'Aiipeal  for  Collection  ot  . . 
Al)OUt  the  nails  of  the  cross 


475 
476 
477 

■-479 
477 
481 


483 
483 


481 
393 
394 
113 

0 

29 


Index. 


xxvu. 


Page. 
Al)OiU  the  sign  of  the  cross  . .  29-31 
Stealiiiu;   permitted  to  Gypsies  by 

Divine  favour  . .         . .         31 

Cross,  most  powerful  of  all  symbols  32 
Serve  as  a  religion  and  solace   . .       190 
Gvpsv— 

Glibness        241 

Iiiterniarria^'e  with  Gorgios       . .       243 

Tea      . .        ^ 247,  263 

Children       247 

Bo\  's  Prayer  345 

Bird 257 

Caution         260-261 

Honesty        284 

Gypsy  well         .         .  . .  70,  113 

Grellman  . .  . .         . .       300 


Happu  Bozzle 247 

Hark,  hark,  the  dogs  do  bark  "         457 
"  Hatteraick,  Dirk,"  cave  of,  near 

Ravenshall       . .  . .  63,  109 

Hawick  Brit;-,  Battle  of         . .  414-415 

Hazlewood  House      . .         . .         . .       109 

Heather  ale,  how  the  secret  of  brew- 

iiitf  perished    . .         . .  487-493 

Helen,  theWelsh  Harper,  aGypsy,218-227 
Highland  (Gaelic-speaking)  Tinklers 

speak  Shelta    . .         . .         . .       437 

Hogg .       126 

Horse-dealing  transactions. .         ..       206 

Horse-stealing 2S5,  300 

House-dwellers,  Gypsies'  hereditary- 
foes         24 


Intermarriage    of     human    races, 

result  of  . .  . .  . .  416 

Irish  Tinkler  names  ..  ..  410 

Irish  Tinkler  wishes  God     . .         . .  365 

Irish  Tinklers  speak  Shelta  437,  438 

Dark  haired  and  sw  arthv  . .  486 

Swap  wives 498 


Jock  Johnstone          . .         .  128-130 

,,               tragic  end  of  210-216 

Johnnie  Faa     . .         . .         . .  . .       ii90 

'  Jolly  Beggars  "  (Burns)  ..  ..       387 

K 

Kelton  Hill  Fair         . .         . .  50,  497 

Kennedy,  Alexander. .         ..  414,419 

Kennedy,  Andrew                ..  149 

A  superior  bonier  . .         . .  - .       150 

Tragic  closing  years  of     . .  . .       164 

Remarkable  love  of  freedom  and 

the  open  air     ..         ..  165-1(7 


Page.. 

Kennedies,  the  horners       .     147-167,  210- 

Greatl.v  respected 147 

Appearance  of        . .         . .  149 

Gang  of         149 

Modus  operandi     . .         . .  150,  153 

Honesty  of    . .         . .         . .         . .       151 

Fondness  of  one  another  . .         . .       151 

Stories  about  the  . .  150,  153,  155-161 
In  distressed  circumstances  latterly  164 
Forebears  of 413 

"  Kippletringan,"  Gatehouse         ..       105 

Kirkdale  bridge  haunted  by  a  white 

lady '.         ..       112 

Kirk  Yetholm,  decadence  of  Gypsy 

colony  at  2  04 


Language    of  Tinkler-Gypsies    2,    5, 
91-93,  178,   179,  184,  185,  186, 

187,  203,  207,  208,  307-323,  433 
Legal  executive.  Weakness  of  . .  45 
Leland,  C.  G.,  191,  239,  245,  284,  306,  430 

Levellers,  The 49-56 

Lingtowmen,  Tinkler-Gj-psies  as      61-71 
"  Little  Egypt,"  Field  known  as  ..       113 
Lockhart,  J.  G.,  Letter  to  Train  as 
to  3  vols.  MS.  sent  Sir  Walter 
Scott 88 

M 

"  M'Clave's  pantry  " 79 

M'Culloch  family       6 

M'Culloch,  James  Murray,  of  Ardwall— 
His  account  of  Billy  Marshall    . .  7 

Claims  "Meg  Merrilies  '   to   have 

been  a  Marshall      . .         . .  9 

Visits  Billy  at  Palnure     . .         . .         12 
M'Kerlie — 
As  to  Scott's  supposed  visit  to 

Galloway 90-91 

Mr  and   Mrs  'Thomas  Scott  and 

Guy  Mannering     ..         ..    90-91 
MacClellans  of  Bombie— The  Black- 
morrow  tradition       . .  405-410 
MacMillan,  Mary,  a  Gypsy  Folk-tale 

Teller 365-385 

MacMillan  and  ^yalker  convicted. .       134 
Macpherson,  James  . .         . .  417-419 

MacRitchie,  David,  93,  112,  118,  191, 
388,  393,  399,  405,  407,  408,  412, 

413,  422,  426,  429,  432,  433,  486 
JIacTaggart  {see   Gallovidian  Eneij- 

clopcedia). 
Marshalls — 
Related  to  the  Faas  . .  401-405 
Addicted  to  ructions  . .  . .  205 
The  real  aul'  originals  . .  203,  299 
Possessed  of  Gjpsy  blood  . .  400 
Unjustly  blamed 527 


xxvni. 


Marshall  Arms -a  saltire 
Marshall,  Bill.N — 

Epitaph  on  . . 

Of  widespread  fame 

Tinkler-Gypsy-PiL-t 

Gratefulness  of 

Honesty  of 


Index. 


Page. 


1 

1 

1-2 

..      C,  8 
S,  9,  46 


Honesi.\  ui  . .  ••, .  -.o  .J-  Q«  -ir  Ai 
Longevity  of  S,  10,  1.-,  18,  3o,  36,  3/,  41 
Principality  of        •  •  •         •  •      '    ,, 

Numerous  progeny  of      ..         ■• 
Deserts  Armv  to    attend  Kelton- 

hill  Fair  .-.■■,,,  ••  \\ 
Aristocratic  relationships  (.')  -  •  J-i 
Murders  his  predecessor  . .  12,  4-o,  ou< 
Lives  at  Palnure  ..  ••  •  •  ,.-!  i a 
Midnif?ht,  spree  of..  ..  ••  ^^-\* 
Drinks  Ard wall's  health  ..  ■•  j* 
Suffers  a  reverse     ..         -.         ■•  ' 

Characteristics  of  . .      17,  18,  4j-oJ,  jii 
Seventeen  tim^s  lawfully  m^^^ie/.,^  f„ 

Birthplace  of  - .  •         ^'^^  ^° "f  q 

His  worst  peculiarities  not  Romam    19 

Earl  of  Selkirk  befriends.  •  •         1^ 

His  signature         ..     26,  2r,  30,  io^  Li4 

<lbjects  to  sign  by  cross  - . 

l^ireat  longevity  of . . 

Handicraftsmanship  of    . . 

Appreciates  good  music   . . 

Homes  and  haunts  of 

Avocations  of 

Lords  it  over  Galloway    .. 

A  smuggler  . . 

A  den  of  his.. 

Gang  of  his  . . 

King  of  The  Levellers      . . 

ilodua  operandi  oi 

■Cave  of 

Flees  from  jjipers  . . 

Of  possible  I'ictisb  origin 

Robs  the  Laird  of  Bargaly 

Anecdotes  about,  119-123,  266,  283  ^^^ 

.<  „     4. ..  „t  .T  "'  216 

"  Beat     of  . .         ■•,,.■■  01R 

Tinkler  "  mettle"  of  his  gang  ..       216 
Good  qualities  of  ..26,,  512  530 

Held  in  high  regard  ..        ..-6^-268 

Befriends  a  tramp  and  chastises 

two  cowards  ■•         ■■       -°' 

Clever  ruse  hy  a  rider  attacked  b\-    268 

' '.  270 
.  270 
. .       270 


His  harem 

Drowns  a  concubine 

His  criterion  of  merit 

Confronted  by  the  devil  . .         •  • 

Shows  kindne-ss  to  a  storm-stayed 

wayfarer 
Bites  off  a  tluimb  .. 
Proves  grateful 
Shows  his  "mettle" 
Repays  a  kindness.. 
Acts  diplomatically 


Page. 


Safeguards  a  friend 

His  hardihood 

Accepts  a  douceur 

Or  the  devil 

Strength  of  his  adversary 

WrestHng  powers  of         .• 

Wears  lamprey  eel  wristlets       ..       ■_■-•- 

Befriended  by  noblemen,  425,  51.-^,  o20 

Designed  as  a  "  brasier    . .         •■.,.?-;_ 

Plealin  mitigation  of  his  crimes  olo,32. 

Refused  a  seat  in  chm-oh..         ..       ^li 

Tombstone  of  ..         •■  5'^'  ''^^ 

A  member  of  the  Guild  of  Hammer- 


.  520 
278 
278 
279 
308 
333 


7 


522 
529 
533 
500 


270 
271 
273 
273 
274 
275 


71 

281 


men 
A  curious  mixture . . 
His  favourite  toast  .  •         • 

Marshall,  Billv  (N'orthumberland) 

Marshall,  Black  Matthew- 
Anecdote  by 

Ruse  of  ..  ■•  ••     n.-l'^^■i   i5q 

Marshall,  Flora  Ma.xwell,  or  8o,  92,  118, 129 
Marshall,  Francie       . .      .     •  •''"^ 

Marshall  gang  of  Tinklers  incarcerated  133 
Marshall  mark,  a  cross  (X)  .  •  ■■  -^ 
Marshall,  Moses  ..         ■■         ' ; , ,  Ti? 

Marshalls,  the  homers  of  Kilmaursl41-147 


143 
147 


And  the  "  Roughie  Paw 
Worked  also  in  metal 
Marshall,  Wilhe— 
Sketch  of 
Story  about.. 

War  cr\'  of 

Maxwell,  Sir  Herbert 
"  May  ne'er  waur  be  amang  us 
Meredith's,  George- 
Philosophic  Tinkler  . . 
Analytical  Note  on  Tinklers  b\ 
"Meg  Merrilies"— 
Flora  Marshall,  prototype  of  (.')•  « 
A  composite  character     ..            »3.  J-^ 
Handwriting  of,  like  Billy  Marshall  s  102 


3 

..        301 

. .       301 

487,  523 

533 

16? 
535 


The  "Galwogian  Sibyl"  .. 
Minnigaff,  one  of  Billy's  haunts 
"  Murder  Hole" 

Of  tradition 

Of  romance 

Muggers 
Murray.    Rev. 
roem>: 


113 
48 
523 
523 
525 
325 


George  —  Murraii's 

218-225 

N 

Newton-Stewart,  Train  at  . .  _       •  •       10? 
"  Nial  of  the  Nine  Hostages  . .       ;•»' 

North.  Christopher-The  Tmklerlale  2b6 


"  Ochiltree  Edie 

O'Neil.  Erchie.. 

Stories  about 

War  cry  of    . . 


516,  517,  519,  520 

303 

; .  303-305,  312 

. .       303 


Index. 


ilniisitry         232-236 

ilnure  Glen,  one  of  Billy's  haunts49, 107 
tnniers,  obsolete     . .         . .         . .       324 

iper  tlaff  vendors    . .         . .         . .       313 

Parliament  Knowe "  . .         . .       173 

atrin  or  patteran 297 

etvleiu/roes  (Sxniths)         ..  ?57-265 

Gypsy— Tea  with 262 

liiip  Phie  (Fea  V)  marries  a  Marshall  48 
cts — 

Last  stand  of  487 

per  Allan  (s'ce  Allan,  Piper). 

an  of  Galwegian  Localities         . .       113 

etry — 

Epitaph  on  Billy  Marshall  . .  1 

Verses  on  James  Allan     . .         . .         42 

Donald  Caird  " 85 

A  G'psv  encampment      ..         ..       126 
Tlie  Tinklers'  Waddin'  O  "      183,  536 

Somani  Chilli         204 

^I^rra^'»  Poems     ..         ..  224-225 

The  Comint;-  of  Love  "  . .         . .       237 

f4vpsv  Heather" 264 

Hnider'sTale         266 

Johnnie  Faa" 291 

The  Strod^ribber"        ..         ..       301 

The  Borderland "  . .         . .       324 

turns'  "  Jolly  Be<rgars  " . .         . .       386 

Miulish  Gypsy's  Bridal  Chamber       347 

Avirn  a  she.l  o'  gorgios. .         . .       346 

'  Hark,  hark,  the  dogs  do  bark  "      457 

\\'ee  Tammie  Twenty "   .         . .       484 

ortanferry,"  Creetown. . .         . .       103 

nee  and  Princess  of  Wales  and 

the  blind  Tinkler  woman 


189 


nn,  Roger,  poet,  descended  from 
Faas       324 


ige  Gaugie,  The 174 

'enshall     resembles     scenery    of 
Gug  Mannering        . .  102-125 

)na  Boswell  264 

oughie  Paw,  The "  . .  . .  141 
naries  (Gypsy  language)  236,  254-5,  259 
iiani  blood  scarce  in  England  . .       260 


iiani  Ghilli. . 
nany  Girl,  The 
imanian  Ursari- 
1  Galloway . . 
I  Lancashire 


ipson,  John 


204,  259 
..       483 


229,  510 
..       231 


S 


Introduction 
231,  433 
tary  arrangements  at  camps — 
ea  for  better       . .         . .  190,  363,  364 
.wney  Bean "        . .         . .         . .       523 


Scant  accommodation 

Scott,  Sir  Walter 

Verses  on  "  Donald  Caird  "  by . 

Supposed  visit  to  Galloway  by 


Page. 

282 

18,  85 

85 

90-91 


Admirable  description  of  Gypsies  by  94 
Solicitude  for  truth  . .  "       . .       101 

Praises  Train  123 

"  Wanderin' Willie "         ..         ..       218 
Cant  words  used  by         . .         . .       442 
Scott,  Capt.  Thomas," and  Mrs  Eliza- 
beth M'Culloch  or  Scott      .      89-91 
Scots  and  Gypsies  contrasted         479,  527 
Scottish  Tinkler-Gypsy  names,    how 

..411 
.  433 
. .  438 
..  340 
..  306 
246,  255 

70 
46,  59-72 


acquired 
Shelta  or  Sheldru 
Shelta  and  Cant  contrasted 
Simple  life.  The 
Simson  . . 

Smart  and  Crofton    . . 
Smiths  (see  Petulengroes). 
Smugglers'  route 
Smuggling 
Stair,  Earl  of,  refers  happily  to  horn 

spoons '         . .       531 

"  Stell  Brae,  The  " 79 

Superstitions  of  Gypsies— The  Gypsy 

bird         257 

Superstition  of  Tinkler-Gypsies     115,  186 


Tinklers'  Bairns 

Claims  of 

Women  kind  to 

Hardihood  of 

Ever  ready  \\ith  an  answer 

Bad  e.\ample  to 

Drink  brings  miserj'  on    . 

Huddled  together  .' . 

Yearnings  of 

Better  upbringing  needed  for 

Regulations  to  benefit     . . 
Tinkler  "  njettle  " 
The  blind  Tinkler  woman    . . 
The  drunken  Tinkler  woman 
"Tlie  Tinkler's  Loop  " 
•'The  Tinkler's  Loup" 
"The  Tinklers'  Waddin'  O" 
Tinkler  Boy,  The  Dwarf      . . 
Tinkler-Gypsies — 

Superstitions  of      . . 

Origin  of 

Types  of        

Contempt  for 
•  Worst  characteristics  of  . . 

Redeeming  feature  of 
Frankness  and  simplicity  of 
Seeretiveness   of,  5,  306,  307, 
310,  326, 
Superstitions  about  the  cross 
Cutpurse 


..       346 

. .       340 

. .       348 

352,  355 

. .       357 

. .    357-8 

..       360 

. .       360 

..       361 

..       362 

363 

216 

175 

186 

47 

139 

183 

190 

115,  118 
386-456 
413-422 


4 
5 

309, 

331,  337 

. .    26-35 
. .    58-59 


XXX. 


Index. 


Page. 
As  smugg-Iers  and  linsftowmen     59-72 

Galloway  g-angs  of 126 

Characteristics  of   16S-203,  281-293, 

29:{-30o 

Philosophy  of  168 

Taught  dodges  to  raise  money  . .  169 
Fond  of  their  children,  171, 190,  202,  348 

Reli-rion  of 178 

Hardihood  of        178,  181,  295,  296,  301 

Denounce  cant        178 

Riding  the  cuddy   ..         ..  181,183 

Dancing        . .         . .         . .         . .       183 

Their  "King  "  had  power  to  correct  266 
Wouldn't  change   their    mode    of 

liying     .  203 

Still  numerous        205 

Roving  ingrained  in  them  . .       205 

Scant  accommodation  required  by  282 
Divorce,  ceremony  of  ..  ..  282 
Stealing  horses       . .         . .  .       286 

Ceremonial  purity  of  . .       297 

Gypsv-like 325 

Slyness         326,  336 

As  singers  and  dancers  . .       329 

As  "  White  Boys"  ..       331 

Like  Red  Indians  . .  . .       233 

As  poachers 342 

Form  of  pleading  . .  350 

Commendable  qualities   . .         . .       361 

Resemble  hunted  hares     .  321 

Sometimes  fair  complexioned   . .       420 
Decadence  of  . .         .  . .       324 

Appearance  of         . .         . .         . .       422 

Related  to  aristocracy     . .         . .       423 

Scattt red  over  the  world  ..       454 

Partly  of  Scottish  (nomadic  metal 

workers) 
Partly     of     Gypsy     (Hindustani) 

extraction     . .         . .         . .       456 

Language     . .         . .  . .         . .  2 

Who  read  the  Bible?  ..       167 

Castes  of       . .  455 

Strange  elusive  study  . .       368 


Page. 

Tinkler-Gypsy  woman  and  che  Prince 

and  Princess  of  Wales  . .       18i 

Tinkler-Gypsv  Folk-tale  Teller     . .       36; 

Politeness  of  36.' 

Eloquence  of  . .  . .         . .       36; 

As  dissembler  .        36; 

Deep  and  "  wide  " . .  3(>: 

Independence  of    ..         ..  367-3(i 

Histrionic  power  of  . .         .        361 

High  morale  known  to     . .         . .       36 

A  good  listener  appreciated  by. .       36 
Gratefulness  of       ..         ..         ..       36 

Benediction  of        . .  .         . .       36 

Folk-tale  by 370-38 

Tinkler-Gypsy  Sweeps         . .         .         31 

Tinklers  in  Britain  before  Gypsies        39 

Train,  Joseph — 
Galloway  Gypsy  Stories  . .         . .        ^ 
MS.  sent  Sir  Walter  Scott  87,  1( 

Praised  by  Sir  Walter  Scott       . .       12 
"  Wanderin' Willie "         ..  218-22 

"  Rorie  Gill  "  . .         . .  514,  55 

Trelory,   the    Laird  of,   deserts    his 

wife        ii 

Tubal  Kain,  the  first  Tinkler         . .       4- 


Ursari  (Gypsy  bear- leaders),  visit  of 
to  Galioway     . .         . .  229-2 

W 

W.  A.,  author  of  Galloway  GKmi)ses 
"  Wanderin'  Willie,  "  a  Gypsy  218-2, 

Watsons,   the    Tinklers,   remarkable 

anecdote  about  . .  2S5-2 

Watts- Dunton..         ..     Prefatori/  LeU 
5,  32,  239,  2 
"  Wee  Tammie  Twenty  "     . . 
Willie  Marshall  (see  Marshall,  Willie). 


GYPSY  LORE  SOCIETY, 


President — David  MacRitchie,  F.S.A.,  Scot. 


This  Society,  founded  in  i8S8,  but  dormant 
since  1S92,  resumed  in  July,  1907,  the  publi- 
cation of  its  quarterly  y(3«;7/fl/,  devoted  to  the 
study  of  Gypsy  History,  Language,  Customs, 
and  Folk-lore. 

The  Journal  is  a  large  illustrated  octavo 
containing  ninety-six  pages  in  each  number, 
and  all  the  most  prominent  authorities,  British 
and  foreign,  on  Gypsy  subjects,  have  pro- 
mised to  contribute. 

The  annual  subscription  is  one  pound 
sterling,  and  intending  members  should  com- 
municate with  the  Honorary  Secretary, 

R.  A.  Scott  Macfie,  M.A.,E.Sc., 
6  Hope  Place,  Liverpool, 

w  ho  will  be  glad  to  give  further  information. 


The  Trmeg. — "We  welcome  the  revival  of  .a  journal  \vhi<!h  deserves  the 
support  of  students  of  philology  and  of  racial  character,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
specialists,  to  whom  it  more  directly  appeals.  Mr  David  MacRitchie  has 
enlisted  the  help  of  so  many  scholars  at  home  and  abroad  that  the  enterprise 
may  claim  to  be  of  international  interest." 

The  Athenreum.—"  We  welcome  Vol.  I.,  Xo.  1,  of  the  Journal  of  the 
Gypsy  Lore  Society,  the  revival  of  which  is  an  excellent  idea.  The  Journal 
has  started  again  with  every  promise  of  a  long  and  interesting  life." 

Mature. — "All  students  of  anthroijology,  linguistics,  and  folk-lore  offer  a 
friendly  welcome  to  the  revived  Society,  which  will,  it  may  be  hoped,  enjoy  a 
longer  lease  of  life  than  its,i)redecessor." 


^    ^ 

^-^ 


6  HOPE  PLACE,   LIVERPOOL. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 

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